Back-to-school Notebook sales were up this July and August, compared to the 12 percent decline overall last year. Windows notebook computer sales declined 4 percent over the prior year, while August 2011 sales, propelled by a late surge in volume, posted an increase of nearly 4 percent. The research was done by The NPD Group.
“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,” said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for NPD. “The last two weeks of August are the most important period for back to school buying, and those weeks saw more than an 8 percent increase over last year in retail sales.”
How I see it is that last year tablets were on the rise along with higher priced notebooks, which drove consumers away. This year, everything has smoothed out and due to the demand of notebooks that are now priced under $500, the students are on the prowl once again.
Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/9/prweb8795656.htm