During the current economic downturn, about the only bright spot in computer sales has been netbooks, those infamously low-cost, under-powered mini-notebooks that offer users an inexpensive way to deal with email and the Web…and, typically, very little else. Now the DisplaySearch arm of retail analysis group NPD is reporting that sales of netbooks are even hotter than expected: the firm expects nearly 33 million netbooks will be snapped up in 2009, meaning netbooks will account for about 20 percent of the PC market worldwide. DisplaySearch also expects the market for traditional notebooks&mdaash;defined as notebooks with 12.1-inch or larger screens—to remain flat for the year.
