3D laptops not doing great

Laptops with 3D functionality are struggling to gain traction to due the large premium, according to a new report by research firm DisplaySearch. While over 100 million laptops shipped this year, 3D notebooks remain just a very tiny niche with only 100,000 units sold for the year until mid-September. Typical consumer laptops cost $600 to $800, and according to John Jacobs, director of notebook market research at DisplaySearch, customers are unwilling to pay a $200 to $300 premium just to watch a few hours of 3D movies on a laptop. Consumers may perhaps shell out up to $100 for 3D features, but flinch at the idea of spending more, Jacobs said.

Roughly 100,000 3D laptops had shipped for the year until mid-September, Jacobs said. That is a very small segment of the laptop market, where shipments have so far tallied more than 100 million units.

PC makers are shipping a total of about 10,000 3D laptops per month. That number should rise to 30,000 each month as laptop purchases pick up during the holiday season. It will remain a niche market, however.

DisplaySearch, which issued a market report this week, is projecting 179,000 3D laptops to ship this year -- only 0.08% of the total laptop market. The number should increase to 611,000 units next year, about 0.23% of the market.

Source: ComputerWorld