Acer has already made official its intention to field an Android powered netbook in Q3 of 2009. Along with Acer will come more computer makers as firms try the alternative OS to reduce costs. Dell and HP are also both looking at selling Android powered netbooks.
The Wall Street Journal reports that analysts believe Android will slowly chip away at the dominance of Windows in the notebook and netbook market. Some also predict that Android will eventually turn up on desktop computers as well. With the backing of a major player like Google, Android is able to better draw attention and developers to its operating system than some of the other flavors of Linux.
Some of the Android usage agreements also allow the Google logo to be used; a netbook or notebook with a Google logo on it would be more recognizable to consumers than a notebook running another Linux variant like Ubuntu.
Research firm Gartner is expecting Linux (including Android) to grab 2% of the consumer market in 2010, up from an estimated 1.7% this year. Use of Linux is also expected to grow in the corporate market as well with a market share for Linux predicted to be 2.8% in 2010, up from 2.7% this year. At the same time, Windows’ market share is predicted to decline.
[via The Wall Street Journal]
