Linux netbooks are given big thumbs down by its users
Due to a very high number of returns of its Linux netbooks Carphone warehouse have taken the decision to stop selling them.
More than 20 percent of customer who purchased the Elonex Webbook, which ships with Linux Ubuntu, returned the units to the shops they bought them from. Original reports had said that a ‘recall’ of the laptops had taken place but this was apparently not the case.
Customer expectation appeared to have been the main issue as many users were shocked when the netbook didn’t work in the same way as normal laptops. And this seems to be due to the Linux Ubuntu and that many users didn’t wish to learn how to use this software. The majority of netbooks were sold along with broadband and mobile broadband bundles and about 60 000 netbooks were shipped out altogether.
There were previously strong rumours that many DSG stores ( Dixon’s, Curry’s Digital and PC World) experienced high return rates of similar netbooks for the same reason but on investigation by TechRadar the claims were refuted by the company.
The problem also appears to be one shared with other areas of the world. Andy Tung, the US sales director of MSI admitted in a recent interview with Laptop Mag in the US that Linux was something customers were just not used to saying “Our internal research has shown that the return of netbooks is higher than regular notebooks, but the main cause of that is Linux. People would love to pay $299 or $399 but they don’t know what they get until they open the box. They start playing around with Linux and start realising that it’s not what they are used to.”
He added: “They don’t want to spend time to learn it so they bring it back to the store. The return rate is at least four times higher for Linux netbooks than Windows XP netbooks.”
Posted in Mobile Broadband News
November 14th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I would say that this is normal and there is nothing wrong with Linux here. It’s what I would call inertia. Not everybody knows what they are buying and not everybody wants to change their habits. So I would say 20% is a pretty low number.
November 14th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
the word on the street is Carphone warehouse did not work with Canonical, the professional services organization which sponsors Ubuntu. Carphone warehouse failed. Linux did not.
November 15th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
When I saw the title, I thought the problem was serious. 20% is pretty low. Looking at the filled part of the glass, 70 to 80% of buyers are keeping their Linux netbooks and probably liking them too. This figure is a success story for Linux. With time, this 80% acceptance base means growth for Linux.
And, even XP-based notebooks are experiencing a return rate of 4% which is not high but shows that, with some people, it’s not the OS that matters but other things with the netbooks they don’t like.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
“The vision of the ONE project by Elonex is for every child in the UK to have their own laptop.
Elonex have aligned the cost of the ONE with the aims of the DCSF closing the achievement gap between those from low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers.”
This is a sub GBP 100.00 netbook aimed at children. That probably explains the high return rates as Linux is not designed for children nor or their parents.
http://www.netbookusers.com/smf/index.php?topic=98.0
November 20th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Ohh.. The Elonex ONE is not the same as the Elonex webbook. But still, the buyers of this netbook are probably not the most experienced pc users.