Netbooks ousted by MIDs in 2013

September 25, 2016

Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) will become the Ultra-Mobile Device (UMD) of choice within the next five years, according to technology analysts ABI Research.

ABI expects current annual sales of 10 million MIDs to jump to 200 million by 2013, hugely outselling netbooks, and standing shoulder to shoulder with laptop sales.

At the moment, netbooks sales make up 90% of the UMD market, but these will fall to a ‘distinct second’ by 2013, with mid-sized UMPCs ending up as a niche category.

Linux operating systems such as Moblin and Maemo are expected to become the dominate MID operating system, with 43% of MIDs to be Linux-based within the next five years.

ABI vice president Stuart Carlaw said that although custom-designed solutions, like Moblin and Maemo, will capture large shares in the MID market, there will also be opportunities for LiMo and Linux OSs, a PC based solution.

ABI’s core message is that there will be room for multiple success stories, according to Carlaw.

Moblin is expected to be particularly successful because of its tight alignment between hardware and software.

ABI principal analyst Philip Solis said despite the projected boom in sales, the market share of UMDs will remain small compared to mobile phone sales.