In a survey conducted with 300 students who are returning to classes in the United States, Retrevo found that 34% of them are opting for a smaller and lighter netbook than a conventional laptop, while only 17% are thinking about purchasing an Apple laptop. like the MacBook. For a company that dominates the educational market in various locations around the world, this is not a very good thing to hear.

The preference for lower cost and smaller notebooks has grown due to the financial recession and also due to the greater portability, but this has never affected Ma's success among colleges and colleges in the past. Today, although the numbers in the education sector are much higher than yours market share in the computer business in general, things have been better.
The average budget for the purchase of computers in this sector has dropped considerably. Just under 18% of respondents have $ 1,000 or more to purchase a Mac or PC, while 58% have a budget of $ 750 or less. This fact seriously undermines the intention to buy laptops, since Apple's cheapest one costs US $ 1,000 (US $ 950, with educational discount, still non-existent here in Brazil).
Netbooks, in turn, will have a good year of sales, despite being criticized by Cupertino executives. About a quarter of notebooks sold in 2009 will be low-cost, forming a market that Apple has long refused to enter due to the level of quality of machines of this size.
(Via: Electronista.)