It looks like netbook market share peaked in 2009.

APRIL 27, 2010 • The netbook fad may have peaked, according to research firm IDC. Shipments of the Intel Atom CPUs that power the small laptops have shown a sharp decline during the first quarter of 2010. As a percentage of Intel mobile processor sold, the Atom line shrank from 24.3% in the fourth quarter to 20.3% during the first three months of this year. Intel chief executive Paul Otellini in a conference call confirmed that Netbooks seem to be settling out at about 20 percent of the mobile form factors on an annual basis.

Impact: Only a year ago there was tremendous momentum behind low-cost netbook hardware sales, with no ceiling in sight. The big difference is how well the iPod Touch has been accepted in the last 12 months. The consumer market for netbooks is pretty much the same as the Touch: younger connected consumers, and that segment is skewing mobile. At roughly similar pricing, the Touch is the hipper purchase with similar utility in a more convenient footprint. That leaves further cannibalization of the standard laptop market for netbook growth, a user base which seems to have decided not to step down.