Chrome OS will strengthen ARM’s assault in netbook market

NEW TRIPOLI: USA: Intel’s Atom will hold more than an 80 percent share of the 23.5-million netbooks sold in 2009. However, the ARM processor will gain a 55 percent market share of the 96 million netbooks sold in 2012, according to The Information Network.
Technology changes are underway to 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.

“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. Chrome OS is the first operating system built with cloud computing in mind,” noted Dr. Robert Castellano, President of The Information Network

ARM runs under the Linux operating system. Linux is free, whereas Microsoft charges a licensing fee up to $35 on each netbook.

Linux systems have struggled against Windows in the netbooks market because of the lack of adequate productivity software that is familiar to consumers, particularly Office-based solutions running on ARM-based platforms.

Google’s Linux-based Chrome OS offers an improved suite of productivity applications, which will influence netbook purchasers toward the ARM system.

In addition, to further keep costs down near the originally intended $100 price point of a netbook, enter cloud computing. Cloud computing is a web-based service that resides on the web, and is much cheaper than software packages that are purchased and stored on a netbook’s hard drive or solid state drive. Eliminating a drive will reduce the price of a netbook a further $55.

There is a wide array of open-source software that all Linux distributions share. It is reshaping the software industry by reducing the overall cost structure and represents the future of enterprise software. Some applications require a monthly fee, such as what is available from Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-leader Salesforce.com, which recently recorded a record financial quarter and its first billion-dollar year. As cloud computing become ubiquitous, competition will drive down monthly SaaS fees.

Along with the growing competition among software service providers, we stated in a Press Release in March 2009 that we will see a new infrastructure taking hold, modeled after Hewlett-Packard (cheap printer, expensive ink) and the mobile service providers (cheap cellphone, expensive monthly wireless charge). This subsidized bundle model will grow the ARM netbook to greater market shares. This strategy is now underway.

As cloud computing becomes more sophisticated, we will see an Internet Protocol-based convergence of audio, video, productivity applications, and IT data run on ARM-based netbooks.