Are SSDs in netbooks on the way out?
Analysts in Asia have reported that the usage of SSDs in netbooks has fallen dramatically in 2008 and will continue to do so next year. This matches our own observations where we find more netbooks available today with HDDs in place of the SSD. The first netbooks that appeared on the scene all had SSDs and the popular outlook was that SSDs would proliferate and dominate the market.
That is clearly not the case and there are probably a number of simple reasons we can cite. Capacity would be the biggest reason as SSDs that are cheap enough to be installed in netbooks are much lower capacity than their HDD counterparts. SSDs are also much more expensive when produced in capacities that rival that of cheap HDD as are being used in netbooks and in the low-margin world of netbooks cost is everything. Lastly a lot of the SSDs that have been used in netbooks so far have been really slow compared to HDD competitors. This is no doubt a cost thing and it is easy to find comparisons of netbook models that show the HDD version outperforms the SSD version, especially when Windows is the operating system used.
The numbers thrown around by the Asian analyst DRAMeXchange are quite telling. They show that in Q1 of this year 70% of all netbooks shipped with SSDs. This figure dropped in Q2 to 66% and then plunged to only 30%. They predict that this trend will continue and that in Q1 of next year only 10% of shipping netbooks will contain SSDs. A year ago no one would have figured that would happen. It goes to show what we say often, netbooks have become simply small notebooks and consumers are demanding similar capabilities they get with “regular” notebooks.
(via Register)
this is really quite interesting. i hope you follow up on this nearing the end of next year. it would be intriguing to see ssds in netbooks drop below the 10% margin.
Until they can make sure of how good SSD they use in netbook, SSD netbook will be gone forever. Asus Eee PC is such a good example; very good and bad SSD are used randomly–we have to depend only luck to get a good one. Who want to take that risk?
Another thing to consider is that possibly the most popular netbooks don’t come with, or offer, SSDs. Unless all netbooks are offered with SSDs, it is difficult to draw accurate conclusions about why there aren’t more SSDs being sold.
If a netbook that comes with an SSD has a poor keyboard design or gets poor reviews, that can cause a model to become less popular. If that analysis is disregarded, it can appear that SSDs are not desirable components.
I would say that availability, price, capacity, speed, and true power consumption all have affected the market share. Since netbooks are viewed as small, low-cost notebooks, the inclusion of an expensive component in them is probably not the best way to go. If SSDs mature and the aforementioned factors become comparable to conventional HDDs, I think they could do extremely well in the netbook segment.
To keep the prices down at the netbook level, it looks like the SSD might be one of the big things that gets cut first. As the prices for them come down, I could imagine they would be reintroduced to the machines. But for now, I’m happy to see that the netbooks of today are affordable and not creeping back into the $600-700 range, especially those with the capability to easily upgrade that drive.
It does seem a little overkill to have a 120 or 160 gig drive and be living in the cloud though.
Capacity is the issue certainly. I’m using a Samsung NC10 at the moment and certainly think of it as a small notebook/laptop rather than a netbook.
I think that many users do buy ‘netbooks’ to replace, or instead of, a regular laptop.
Actually you’re wrong about no one saying this would happen. I remember when the Asus first came out, I turned to my dog and said: ‘These SSDs aren’t going to be very popular. In less than a year people are going to realise that they’re not good enough to replace a nice big HD.’ He nodded and went back to licking his balls. (If that’s not a sign of agreement, I don’t know what is).
I think that capacity isn’t all that much of an issue for people who use a netbook as a secondary PC. However it seems that if you want a netbook with an SSD, you’re stuck with the lowest possible battery/RAM/screen specification. I see that the Eee’s avoided this trend and the Mini 1000 is also bucking it, but I really want a 6-cell Aspire One with an SDD for maximum battery life, and they just don’t make it.
I bought the original EEE and loved it. I still use it for its convenience as a quick web browser. BUT. I bought an Aspire One with XP because to be really useful as a throw in my bag and use anywhere PC I needed XP for the software. XP needs more than a small SSD. When a decent sized SSD is cheap enough for the original EEE I’ll put one in there, and probably XP too.
I really don’t care if the drive is an SSD or hard drive. I care it it is fast enough, if it is big enough, and if it works.
The SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative (SSSI) site has a lot of useful information about SSD technology.
http://www.snia.org/forums/sssi
Check it out.
I guess there are two netbook markets. One as a companion device where an SSD would suffice and one for the budget market (students, soccer mums etc) where it’s their primary machine. These people want to be able to store music and videos, download pictures from their digital camera. They want to have their itunes library with them. Even the people who have one as a companion device want to have a movie or two on the hard drive.
Gordon
One big problem is that they wear out. The SSD in my EEE PC failed after about 6 months (bad sectors in frequently-rewritten files).
@Gordon who said :
“…The SSD in my EEE PC failed after about 6 months…”
Same for me with the second and so slow SSD 8 Go of My EEE 900. Out now ! And what a pity for the 4 Go C: drive for original Windows XP. The system is unable to update to SP3 and I fight always beetween 100 and 200 Mo of free space. I use a SD card in rescue.
I regret a standard hard-drive, really !
When you’re dealing with a sub-$500 MSRP device, it doesn’t make sense installing a slow,small capacity drive that may cost as much as 50% of that $500. Traditional hard drives are much cheaper, offer bigger capacity and sometimes perform faster – that’s most likely why they are better suited to netbooks at the moment and pushing out first-gen SSD hardware.
For laptops and notebooks, however, I see SSD’s replacing hard drives altogether in the next 5-8 years. The 2.5 inch form factor has already brought 256GB SSD hardware, already matching half the capacity of the biggest 500GB platter-based notebook drives. As the technology becomes more developed and prices come down, SSD’s will dominate and push hard drives into the poor man’s price range.
I intentionally avoided all the SSD models this time when I bought my netbook. I don’t need a small, slow, under-performing jump drive sitting in my PC, I want a proper hard drive.
Maybe next year the speeds will get better, but I will wait until the capacities are half as good as HDDs and read/write speeds are better than equivalent HDDs.
SSDs run cooler, though, and that’s a big consideration for me. When you cram lots of delicate electronics into a small space, you increase the risk of thermal damage.
(In fact, I’ve got a thermally wrecked hard 5400rpm disk that I had installed in my Eee 901, which has led me to order a RunCore SSD.)
Personally, I’ll take a little less capacity, a smarter MLC controller, and comparable performance to keep the system from running hot enough to scorch my lap.
I hate HDD…they always seem to fail me.
Yet it seems we are always waiting for the SSD that lives up to the promise of being superior to the HDD. I am ready to buy a new netbook as a companion machine….and I want the SSD for the theoretical promise of better battery life, more drop resistance, etc…..and will likely end up with the HDD again.
If the cost is lower and performance is better, is it possible for SSD’s wide adoption in standard NB PC market?
HI THERE NO WAY SSD ARE GOING OUT FROM NET BOOKS I SEEN VIDEO ON YOU TUBE YOU CAN PUT A 1.8 INCH 32 64 128 GB SSD DRIVES IN THEM SOO THEY CAN SUPORT BIGGER SSD DRIVES BUT THE HARD DRIVE COMPANIES DONT WANT YOU TOO KNOW.
HI THERE I FORGOT TOO MENCHIN THAT EEE PC WILL RELEAESE A 12 INCH EEE PC NET BOOK WITH 512 GB SSD DRIVE IN IT THIS YEAR BETWEEN $1,700 TOO $2,700 TAKE THAT COMPUTITION
Whoa… old article.
Also SSDs are just taking a nap. They’ll be back by summer.