Analyst sees ARM CPUs in most netbooks by 2012

Dylan McGrath, EE Times
(03/10/2009 8:53 AM EDT)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—ARM-based processors will take market share from Intel Corp.'s Atom in the netbook segment and hold 55 percent of the netbook market by 2012, according to Robert Castellano, president of The Information Network.

Castellano said Atom will hold 80 percent market share of the 21.5 million netbooks expected to be sold in 2009, but that technology changes—including trends in cloud computing and Linux—will undermine Atom's grip on the market during a recessionary time when people don't want, and can't afford, a second laptop just to carry around.

The movement is toward the original intention of a netbook—an inexpensive device for accessing the Internet, Castellano said.

"We see two technology factors converging with the poor macroeconomic situation that will create a market for ARM—the release of the Cortex-9 microarchitecture and the emergence of cloud computing," Castellano said in prepared statement.

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