Laptop or Notebook Computers

by | Sep 10, 2019

Laptop or Notebook Computers

15.6% of respondents have never owned a laptop or notebook computer, representing the fourth most saturated market of any of the 16 devices studied, according to a Researchscape online survey of 1,000 consumers.

Purchase Interest

Despite this high level of saturation, 77.1% of respondents were “very interested” or “extremely interested” in purchasing a laptop. People interested in laptops are most likely to also be interested in tablet computers (0.284 correlation), smart TVs (television sets with Internet access, 0.220 correlation) and digital cameras with video (0.216 correlation). Obviously, and unsurprisingly, they are least interested in desktop computers (-0.266 correlation).

Laptops are a category that benefits from device substitution: 8.2% of respondents would replace a broken device from a different category with a laptop – 4.8% would replace a broken desktop computer with a laptop, and 1.2% would replace a portable DVD player with a laptop.

36% of respondents without a laptop said it was the device they didn’t own that they were most interested in purchasing. Of all respondents, 7.9% identified laptops as the device they were most interested in purchasing, the fifth highest interest level. Primary reasons for interest in a laptop were portability, desire to replace an old laptop and the desire to replace a desktop PC.

  • Portable (mentioned by 17 respondents):
    • “I enjoy the portability of a laptop.”
    • “I need a powerful computer yet want to be mobile. Laptops can do everything I want so I don’t have to worry so much about carrying a phone or GPS.”
    • “So I can do computer tasks on the go.”
  • Current model is outdated or malfunctioning (mentioned by 11 respondents):
    • “I need a new one since mine broke.”
    • “I really need a new laptop because my computer is very slow.”
    • “I really need a new one; this one is old and ready to die.”
  • Want to replace a desktop PC (mentioned by 9 respondents):
    • “The desktop computer I’m using is old and slow. It also uses a large amount of electricity. I want a laptop that’s light, fast, and costs almost nothing to run.”
    • “My desktop computer is very out of date, and I’m afraid any day it will die on me. So, I need a new computer at some point. Also with some portability I could bring the computer to work or outside which would be nice.”
    • “So I am not chained to my desk when working!”
  • For Internet access (mentioned by 6 respondents):
    • “So that I can take my computer on trips and continue to do work and socialize when away from home. I would have all my files, contacts and all right with me, and most places I would stay would allow me to connect to the Internet.”
    • “I really like to get on the Internet a lot, and it is easier than using my phone or my daughter’s laptop.”
    • “Being able to enjoy the Internet while not at home.”
    • “Portable internet access from a convenient device.”
  • Need one for school (mentioned by 6 respondents):
    • “For school.”
    • “I need a notebook to make presentations in class.”
  • For traveling (mentioned by 5 respondents):
    • “So that I can take my computer on trips and continue to do work and socialize when away from home. I would have all my files, contacts and all right with me, and most places I would stay would allow me to connect to the Internet.”
    • “I would like a laptop so I could take it with me when I will be waiting for an appointment or to be able to have access when I am traveling.”
  • Need a second computer in the house (mentioned by 5 respondents):
    • “My husband changed jobs, and his new job does not provide a laptop. We need a laptop so that we both can be on computers (Internet) at the same time. We now need to share, and I do transcriptions online, so it is at times inconvenient.”
    • “My family has a computer that 3 people use, which has a small amount of memory, and is very slow when doing tasks that needs fast interaction. It would be more convenient to have my own laptop with more memory, as well as being faster for important tasks
    • “It’s a good idea to have a backup computer of some sort.”
  • Want to replace tablet computer (mentioned by 2 respondents):
    • “I don’t like my tablet for what I need it for; laptop would be better.”
    • “I hate the tablet I have and want to go back to a PC. Not all interfaces work on my tablet, especially when I need them to!”

While we used the phrase laptop or notebook computer in our questionnaire, how did respondents refer to the category? Only 0.2% of respondents used the word notebook in their verbatim answers, while 18.0% used the word laptop. Surprisingly, just 0.3% of respondents used the term netbook. No one used the marketing terms subnotebook, subnote or ultrabook.

Current Ownership

78.0% of respondents currently own a laptop, the second highest ownership rate of the 16 devices studied, behind only traditional TVs.

3.7% of owners no longer use the device, giving it the absolute lowest rate of lapsed usage (compared to an average of 16.3%). Conversely, it had the second highest rate of frequent use: 82.9% of owners reported using their laptop frequently.

In a separate survey of 400 consumers, we asked respondents a hypothetical question: which devices would they purchase if they had lost all of their devices in a robbery and new purchases were covered by insurance? 83.6% of current owners were “very interested” or “extremely interested” in repurchasing a laptop, the second highest interest level in repurchasing, behind only smart phones.

Laptops are the device least likely to not be replaced: just 2.6% of owners said it was the device that they were least interested in replacing if it broke.

Past Ownership

6.4% of respondents have owned a laptop in the past but no longer do so, the 6th lowest rate of past ownership. This represents 7.6% of the group of current and former owners.

See Also