Study Predicts Smartbook Surge, 1.3 Billion Mobile Internet Subscribers by 2014

Smartbooks and Mobile Internet Devices will experience a compound annual growth rate of 176%, shipping 63 million units in 2014, according to a new report from Research and Markets. These devices are expected to eat into the smartphone market.

These emerging types of mobile computers, which the report predicts will feature ubiquitous 3G/LTE connectivity because of user demand, will also spur growth of PC mobile broadband and handset-centric mobile Internet subscriptions. The report forecasts subscriptions will reach 295 million and 1.3 billion, respectively.

3G/LTE capable netbooks shipments should also rise, experiencing a 124% compound annual growth rate while reaching 34 million units in 2014.

According to the report's author, the lack of a lightweight OS capable of performing multiple tasks is the only real smartbook roadblock. "As a result of limited upward mobility of non-captive Smartphone OS, smartbooks are currently lacking an 'anchor' web-centric, multitasking and lightweight OS capable of fully exploiting the ARM-based applications processors," claimed Satish Menon, Senior Analyst for Forward Concepts. "It is unlikely that Microsoft will be porting Windows 7 to ARM platforms, but Maemo, Android, and Chrome are among early OS candidates for smartbooks, whether they be based on ARM Processors or on X86 platforms, like Intel's upcoming Moorestown."

Source: Research and Markets