In Japan, Acer netbooks are the most popular models according to TechOn’s analysis of a survey conducted by Japanese research company iShare Inc. The findings are similar to netbook sales numbers analyzed in a DailyTech article with Acer netbooks topping sales charts. The survey received responses from 422 people in their 20s to 40s and was conducted from Nov 14 to 17, 2008.
Roughly, 41.9% of the respondents said they have researched netbooks on the internet or at a retail store. For this question there was a gender gap with 52.4% of the male respondents and 29.1% of the female respondents having researched netbooks. The break down by age group was 34.5, 43.3 and 41.4% of for people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, respectively. Middle-aged respondents were slightly more interested in mini notebook PCs.
iShare asked those who have researched netbooks what manufacturer they find most attractive. Acer Inc. of Taiwan was the most popular maker, being named by 20.9% of them, followed by ASUSTeK Computer Inc of Taiwan at 19.8%. Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) came to third 13.6%, followed by Dell Inc 11.9%. HP was popular among women, while many in their 40s voted for Dell, according to iShare. The popularities of all the other manufacturers fell below 10%. Interestingly the highly acclaimed MSI Wind did not even make the top ten.
When asked why they found a specific manufacturer attractive, 59.3% cited price as the biggest factor followed by design at 34.5% -- other basic specifications at 22.0% and weight at 15.3%.
When iShare asked what factors the respondents seek in mini notebook PCs, less weight was cited as the largest factor at 80.8%, longer battery life at 73.9%, durability at 48.1% and "comes with Microsoft Office" at 34.6% took the following positions.