Mini-laptop computers, typified by the popular ASUS Eee PC, have been derided by some analysts as little but low-cost toys. But they are changing the shape of the PC business throughout the world, bringing computing power to many who could never have afforded it.

Notebook PCs in general are experiencing torrid growth, according to the latest quarterly PC sales statistics from the IDC research firm. In Europe during the second quarter, the category increased by 60 percent compared to the same quarter in 2007, almost doubling sales growth for all types of computers to 23 percent from 12 percent the year before. Portable growth was “sparked by the wide appeal of low-cost portables,” IDC said.

Worldwide, portable computer sales for the second quarter were up 37 percent year over year.

Even the United States saw growth in notebook computer sales, although it was less dramatic: up 17.7 percent, while desktop machines and servers sales declined by four percent.

Still, IDC expects the portable computer market in the United States to double, from 30 million units sold in 2007 to 61.1 million in 2012.

In the Asia/Pacific region not including Japan, sales growth of all types of PCs slowed. Sales were up 14 percent, after sales increases of 20 percent or more for the past few years. The reasons:
the earthquake in China, higher costs for gasoline and inflationary pressures.

As small laptop sales increase, their popularity is redefining the nature of the computing experience, taking it off the desk and making it an integral part of peoples’ lives, wherever they are. With the Internet playing an essential role, the devices are well-suited to an increasingly-connected mobile population, in many cases supplementing rather than replacing one’s computing power.

Which is why Bob O’Donnell, an IDC vice president, says that it is time to redefine the success of the consumer PC market. “The right way to gauge the success of consumer PCs is no longer the adoption rate of households with PCs, or even the number of PCs per household, but rather the number of machines per individual,” he said.

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