As consumers' disposable incomes dwindle, they are flocking to buy low-cost netbook PCs, driving global shipments up by nearly 70 per cent in 2009 and by a whopping 2,424 per cent in 2008, according to iSuppli. However, as economic conditions improve in 2010 and beyond, shipment growth inevitably will fall from these stratospheric levels. "People are not buying netbooks because they are truly desirable platforms, but rather because as low-cost PCs, they offer a good mix of features at an acceptable price point," said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst, compute platforms, for iSuppli. Global shipment growth for netbook PCs will decelerate to a less astounding--but still impressive--nearly 40 per cent in 2010, and will continue to slow to reach 13.1 per cent in 2013. Article