Dell Trumps Return Rates for Netbooks

It has been an issue for more than two years already since netbooks have hit the market and when they first came out it was on the linux version. Microsoft quickly stepped up the pace and have made partnerships with vendors to make sure that Windows XP would be loaded in these netbooks. Furthermore they have extended the life of Windows XP specifically for netbooks.

After a few months, it was reported that return rates for Linux based netbooks was four or five times higher than normal Windows XP. At that time Microsoft was making a killing continuously announcing that Windows XP based netbooks was the right choice and Linux would end up in the return mail.

The cheap prices of Linux based netbooks when it first came out enticed a lot of consumers into buying the computer but later found out that the learning curve on using Linux was tiring and they sent the netbooks back to the vendor.

Dell right now doesn’t recognize this and instead belittled Microsoft’s bashing of Linux saying they were making something out of nothing. Dell notes that the reported return rates of Linux based netbooks were high compared to Windows based netbooks but it was a non-issue for the company. During the OpenSource World (LinuxWorld) in San Francisco, Dell senior product marketing manager Todd Finch, says that the return rate of their Linux based Inspiron mini netbooks was a non-issue. He said that they don’t see a significant difference between the return rate for Windows vs Linux. He said they are happy with the stability and technical soundness of Linux machines.

I don’t believe this is a non-issue for Dell but I’m pretty sure they want to continue serving this market and wouldn’t want to alienate the small Linux consumer market. Finch is downplaying this because they are offering  Linux OS upgrades to Ubuntu 9.04. Dell is into manufacturing ARM-based netbooks and smartbooks probably powered by Linux. In some areas, Finch confirmed that 1/3 of netbooks shipped are Linux based.

Earlier, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner said during the software giant’s annual financial analysts’ meeting that retailers selling Linux netbooks are experiencing return rates of four or five times higher than Windows returns.

I think consumers shouldn’t get caught up on the dollar savings of Linux netbooks unless they are seasoned Linux users. If they are using Windows then go stick with Windows based Linux netbooks. That should be simpler and ensure you don’t sent the PC back to the vendor.

Image from Windows 7.