Sales Are Looking Good--if you're stocking laptops

Last week I published an article in the Mobile PC Newsletter (brash and brazen plug, go subscribe through https://profile.microsoft.com/. You just need a Windows Live Passport.) that Mobile PC Growth in India Is Almost 20 Percent in 2007. And then today I saw an article in Ireland's Silicon Republic that talks about how Notebook momentum is driving European PC growth. To quote:

European demand for notebook computers showed no signs of abating in the past year and resulted in over 88 million devices shipped in the region but going into 2008, connectivity alliances between PC vendors and telcos will transform the shape of the market.

The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) PC market recorded an outstanding year in 2007, according to IDC’s latest tracker, as PC shipments increased 15.9% year-on-year.

Those are some mind-boggling numbers. There are a lot of machines out there that need good software to perform well. A LOT. 

The other thing I think is interesting is that this means that we're definitely shifting to where more and more people are using mobile PCs--notebooks, Tablet PCs, UMPCs, desktop replacements--and the applications that run on them. We're talking about a computer that's only sometimes plugged in, encounters multiple networks through a session, relies on power management to make it through the day, and is asked to work well indoors, outdoors, in coffee shops, on my desk, and in someone else's home. There are the obvious hardware needs--take for instance that it must weigh less that 8 pounds (I hear you laughing)--but there are also many software considerations.

I worked on the team that spent two years documenting the considerations for Mobile PC Developers. You can find them all in the User Experience Guidelines for Developers in MSDN. I think we did a good job laying out the various categories unique to notebook development. I know the APIs are not that difficult, because I understand them. And yet I see precious few applications availing themselves of power management, network location, and Tablet and Touch technologies.

I wonder why. Seems to me that anyone whose app absolutely shone on notebooks, Tablet PCs, UMPCs, and other portable computers would stand to make a huge splash, earning enough money that, as former governor Haley Barbour said yesterday, "they could burn a wet mule."

 Well, you know what I mean.