MID Work

Functionality Used as a secondary device to compliment a laptop/notebook rather then a replacement device – Primarily used for easy note taking and quick web surfing

Features Clamshell devices appear to be the most popular style with consumers The 3 biggest divide between consumers is – Size – Keyboard – OS

Size - Screen Many of the devices’ screens are between 5” and 7” – But some consumers have a problem with the small screen size and are opting instead for larger ones – The small screen also dictates the size/type of keyboard

Keyboard Debate between full QWERTY keyboard or one integrated into a touch screen – Depends on personal preference Though many like the full keyboard because it is familiar

Operating System Not clear which OS consumers prefer – Microsoft appears to be more popular as it is familiar – Yet there are some devices with other OS such Linux and one device appears to have google’s Android

MID Sales Intel and VIA estimated total sales of MIDs to be between 150,000 to 200,000 units. – Estimates place the sales of MIDs so far at around 30,000 units instead – On the other hand Netbooks have sold an estimated 22 million units With 2007 sales of 700,000 units

MID Many factors for why MIDs are not selling like Intel hoped/believed they would – Not enough publicity/advertisement for them Only electronic enthusiast really know about them – Short battery life Not enough capacity to be truly mobile – Size Either not pocketable or the screen size to small

Market So far there is only a small market for MID Sell better when – Technologies improves Better battery life Internet connection – Price decreases Average price is too high, around $500 (with many devices $1000) Need to be priced similar to netbooks or lower, around $150 – 250 – Find the best/most versatile form ie touchscreen, with full keyboard in a clamshell

Smartbooks Smartbooks are supposed to appear in Q – Supposed to resemble a large smartphone without the phone capabilities Designed to be “always on” (like a smartphone) ARM-based platform Runs with Linux (rather than Microsoft) OS Like a less fancier Netbook

Important Note Manufactures have an issue with Netbooks / UMPC – They have concerns over perceived smaller margins – Lower margins then Notebooks Which margins are already very small

Popular Devices Most popular MID brand is the Archos (in the US) – Overseas the Viliv s5 has sold the highest amount of units 1000 of the first devices were sold out in 15 mins Compare this to the UMID mbook which only sold 70 out of 500 units in the first week Archos is more of a small tablet pc or a media player – best battery life (around 4.5 hrs)

Netbooks Acer EEE mpc – Best selling ultra-portable device 2008 sales – Q3 1.7 million units – Q4 1.8 million units – Offered in three sizes 7”, 9” and 10” Asus stated that they will focus more on the larger 10” screen because it liked better by consumers

Other Devices Other devices to consider are MP3 players, Media players and eBook Readers – eBook Readers have a fast growing market Unit sales have doubled since 2008, and are expected to double for 2009 and – But PND sales have (from estimates) stagnated Many more GPS systems are becoming integrated in vehicles instead of portable ones.