While the debate is still on about the impact of tablets on notebook sales, the laptop computers seem to be making a handsome recovery. Lately, we were getting to see various reports about the decline in notebook and netbooks sales due to the advent of tablets, but a latest study conducted by NPD shows that things are not exactly so gloomy for laptops.
While laptop sales numbers are not exactly soaring, but at least their downward trajectory is getting a little less steep. During the first half of 2011, laptops saw 12 percent decline in their sales on year over year basis, however, in July and August of this year, the slide rate has fallen down to 4 percent.
However, the pause in slide is mainly due to the back to school rush. However NPD provided an alternative explanation as well when its vice president of industry analysis Stephen Baker said, "The sequential results from NPD's back-to-school point-of-sale (POS) data indicates that after a shortfall early in the year that was mostly related to the difficult comparisons to the binge of buying after the release of Windows 7, the Windows notebook market remains solid."
Another reason for the spike in sales is a drop in the prices of laptops. During July and August, the average sales price for the laptop fell 7 percent, down to $477. The survey also showed that the consumers are interested in getting more bang for their bucks, as 65 percent of the buyers picked the machines in sub-$500 category. The report provides a gleam of hope for laptops and shows that tablets are not yet quite ready to annihilate laptops.