By Chris Ferneyhough – SVP Technology Practice – Vision Critical

One of the more surprising tech trends of 2009 was the success of the netbook. If you are unfamiliar with netbooks, think of a laptop – but smaller, lighter, and much less powerful than most traditional laptops. The smaller form factor of netbooks makes them appealing to those who want even more portability than traditional laptops offer. And of course another undeniable appeal of netbooks is that they are less expensive than traditional laptops (the lowest end netbooks typically retail for around $300), which, given the economic conditions faced by many in 2009, likely put the netbook on the radar of many who previously had been considering a more expensive laptop.

Despite the advantages of netbooks relative to traditional laptops, they will likely continue to attract a niche category of computer user rather than enjoy mainstream success. The reality is that there are a number of disadvantages that stop them from being the answer for everyone: some don’t like the smaller screensizes, and the combination of a slower processor and lesser hardware specs make running multiple applications difficult.

Regardless of the shortcomings, netbooks adequately accomplish what a number of basic computer users are looking for – a simple, lightweight device that can access the Internet. Add some cloud computing to the mix (with Google Docs for basic word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations), and the capabilities of a netbook expand even further.

But can the netbook category continue to grow at with the impressive growth rate the category enjoyed in 2009? This may prove to be difficult. In addition to the threats that the category will always face from traditional laptops, another threat that netbooks are about to face is the impending launch of Apple’s long-anticipated touchscreen computing device (rumoured to be called the iTablet… or it is iSlate?).

Tablet computers are certainly not new to the computing market, but they’ve long struggled to make any serious market share inroads. Regardless, many anticipate that with Apple’s success with the iPhone and iPod touch, they might be the company that finally takes tablet computing mainstream.

Given Apple’s typical high-end pricing strategy, it is extremely unlikely that the Apple Tablet will play anywhere even remotely near the netbook’s $300 space (rumored to be closer to $1000). But with Apple’s marketing savvy when it comes to categories that are not mainstream (despite not being one of the first companies in the digital music player space, they’ve subsequently defined it), it is hard not to believe that the company won’t win over a significant number of customers who had been considering a netbook.

Regardless of what ultimately goes down, 2010 should prove to be an interesting year for the netbook, and for the computing industry as a whole. What do you think – have you purchased a netbook? Are you happy with it?