Screen size
Another turning point in the notebook market is wider adoption of widescreen models. IDC's Gunson said widescreen was fast becoming the standard. Manufacturing prices are coming down and software applications are becoming more plentiful and advanced.

"Everything is going to widescreen: even the commercial market, which tends to be reluctant to change, is starting to see the benefits. The technology is becoming cheaper than standard-aspect screens," he said. HP's Bradburn said SMBs in particular were eager to get their hands on widescreen.

"Up to 80 per cent of users in this category want 15.4-inch notebooks. Larger corporates want 14-inch. There's also growth in the 17-inch space in the finance and accounting arena," she said.

While arguing that there was a current lag in the commercial sector for widescreen, Lenovo's Gore said the trend would escalate once more applications started taking advantage of Windows Vista.

He pointed to research which forecast just one per cent of notebooks would have standard screens by 2009. Toshiba product marketing manager, Justin White, said it was seeing a trend towards downsized kit.

"Three years ago consumers were switching from 14-inch to 15-inch, but now we're seeing a reversal of that and want to go back to the 14-inch and even the 12-inch models," he said.

Not surprisingly, road warriors and those clocking up Frequent Flyer points wanted smaller and lighter product, White said. As a result, Toshiba is cranking up activity in the ultramobile space and is set to launch new gear in the sub-1kg category.

Going ruggedised
At the extreme end of the scale, the ruggedised market in Australia is also on the up. Panasonic Toughbook product manager, John Penn, estimated the market was worth roughly $70-$80 million.

Increasingly mobile workforces, and the growing need for outdoor computing, are driving take-up, he said. While demand in mining, defence and utilities continues unabated, there has also been strong uptake across the corporate community.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be an extreme environment to have extreme damage," Penn said. "It's not just extreme users that need rugged features." Resellers can offer customised software, along with the rugged hardware, into select verticals in a bid to offer productivity gains.

Construction was a big one at the moment and wanted the integration expertise of a partner, Penn claimed.

"Customers are starting to understand the TCO of ruggedised machines and how it can cut downtime and increase productivity," he said. "After several deployments of traditional mobile technology, they have been through the teething problems and pain associated with upfront costs, running costs, downtime and warranty."

Penn said a top selling point for the ruggedised platform was its lower machine failure rate. He cited an IDC study which found traditional non-ruggedised notebooks used by Telstra over a four-year lease period had an annual failure rate of 25 per cent compared with the Toughbook range, which experienced an annual failure rate of 1.5 per cent.

Panasonic's latest Toughbook models, the CF-19 and CF-30, offered enhanced security and features that help prevent illegal access to valuable business data, Penn said.

"The new Toughbooks also offer embedded 3G support, which is critical in today's business environment as companies look to mobilise their workforce with field applications," he said.

The latest range also offers ultra bright screens for improved readability outdoors, which won't compromise battery life, a critical concern for the mobile workforce, Penn said.

Corporate opportunity
Regardless of the usage requirements, IDC's Gunson said notebooks would continue to be the bright star in the PC market.

While the consumer notebook space was hot, he said the commercial segment would continue to be a growth area for the rest of the year. Education, government and the SMB arena were the categories to watch.

"There will be lots of tenders and pick up. In the past desktops were strong in this area, but now notebooks are gathering appeal," he said.

"It's easier for SMBs to migrate to notebooks than large enterprise, and we are also seeing some leakage from retail into SOHO and the lower end of SMB, which is lifting those markets."

Notebook market leader, HP, is one example. From this month, the complete Presario range will be available to all resellers via its notebook distributors, Ingram Micro, Dicker Data, Synnex and Cellnet. Previously, a limited Presario range was only available to resellers through Ingram Micro and Dicker Data.

HP market development manager for consumer notebooks, Nicholas Lynch, said the decision to go broader was in response to customer demand.

"The notebook market is in high growth, in retail and across the rest of the market, and in every segment and in all different form factors," he said.

As the line between work and play becomes blurred, Lynch said demand for consumer notebooks in the SOHO space had increased.

"HP, by offering greater choice to the market through a SOHO notebook range combining both the Presario and SMB range of notebooks, is providing resellers with a wider and more comprehensive suite of products to offer SOHO customers," he said.

Lynch said 30 per cent of all notebooks sold in the consumer space were going into the SOHO arena. And while Santa Rosa was being touted in the commercial segment, it would also have a positive impact on the consumer market, he said.

"It offers a new level of performance to market at an achievable and reasonable price point. It can handle graphics better," Lynch said.

Another interesting trend in consumer notebooks is the fact that the average selling price is increasing. Lynch said customers were more willing to pay more to get extra value.

"While the sub-$1000 was happening a year ago with a flurry, now we're entering the time of the $1500-$1999 range. The $1500 is the new $999," he said. This was partly because customers were increasingly concerned with features as well as style.

"People are becoming more aware of notebooks being a personal accessory and stylish item," he said.