I started getting interested in netbooks late in the game, so I can't tell you why Acer netbooks are the most often searched for laptop computers in the US, but they are. Is it because they were the first or is it because they are the best? I don't think either question is relevant. I think Acer was simply the first to successfully market netbooks as such.
My Data Source
I am no genius. I used a free online tool and it's called Google Insights for Search. I simply searched for "netbook" in all US regions and in every category (for the last 30 days) using this research tool.
If you search like I did, you'll find "netbook acer" at the head of the pack, followed by "netbook dell", "hp netbook" and "asus netbook", with less specific terms in between them. Broadening the search to worldwide yields similar results, but shows "asus netbook" in the number two position instead of the last position.
Netbook Marketing
For a long while, searching for netbook terms was extremely limited due to Google's moratorium on the term having little or no value in its search engine results. Many times, the search engine results would ask you if you meant notebook instead of netbook.
I don't know if this had an effect on netbook marketing, but most netbook manufacturers were marketing their netbooks as just notebooks or mini-notebooks. As far as I can tell, Acer was specifically marketing their netbooks as netbooks.
Although I found my own MSI Wind netbook on the net being referred to as a netbook, the actual laptop has the word "notebook" on it. Something tells me they changed their marketing tactics after the cases were produced.
What Made Netbooks Popular?
I'm not quite sure what started it, but I think it had something to do with one hundred dollar laptop project. Laptop producers saw the interest and decided to pursue it — that's my best guess.
I'm willing to bet the term "netbook" will cease to exist within a year or so as netbooks become more and more like full-featured notebooks. It all depends on how long they remain popular.
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