OStatic

In October, MSI's Director of US Sales delivered an interesting statistic that Linux netbooks were returned four times more often than Windows versions. It didn't seem, perhaps, an unreasonable number, but it was a bit ambiguous what data it was pulled from. I had speculated it was perhaps a market-wide number, pulled from other netbook manufacturers (and incorporating MSI's sales data on Linux netbooks internationally, as a Linux version of the Wind has not yet been released in the US).

Apparently that wasn't the case. I just came across a Laptop Magazine interview from late last month with ASUS CEO Jerry Shen. Shen says four million EeePC netbooks have been sold this year, with models offering pre-installed Windows versions rolling out in the later quarters. He says ASUS has found the return rates for the Linux and Windows models are similar. He also said that Linux has been quite popular in the European market.

Laptop Magazine talked to MSI's Director of US Sales, Andy Tung about the future of netbooks. Tung discussed future netbook sales and releases -- and presented the statistic that Linux-based netbooks are four times more likely to be returned.

jkOnTheRun reasons that this isn't terribly surprising. Considering the low price of Linux netbooks, and their rarity at larger retailers that might allow new users to kick the tires, it seems that many new users leap, then look.

The return rate of Linux netbooks is pertinent to both netbook manufacturers and Linux users, and is not limited to FOSS acceptance -- or the bottom line.