You have to read between the lines when it comes to executives and their corporate speak but NJBiz.com tells the story beautifully.  Basically, a bunch of execs got together at the behest of the Consumer Electronics Association and netbooks were the topic of discussion.  While the comments are subtle they speak volumes.

A Verizon wireless sales director said – “I don’t think it’s a fad.”  

A Samsung director of product marketing said - “We’ll continue to see the progression of the netbook as a companion product”

A senior manager at HP was quoted as saying – “We’ve only started to scratch the surface on how business might use this device.”

If they didn’t independently feel that this new segment was a cash cow they wouldn’t have much to say.  That’s why you don’t hear execs talk about their products.  They leave those flattering statements to the PR flacks.  And they all have good reason to be so optimistic.  People are ready to ditch they heavy notebooks and wired connections.  With Verizon charging $60/month for 5GB of data transfer each new user which signs up for a two year agreement with Verizon is almost pure profit.  If those customers go over the 5GB cap, Verizon profits even more.

Samsung and HP are leading the way hoping to hand out netbook crack to a starved population looking for something new, light and cheap.  After almost two years of gaining share and adoption netbooks are becoming profitable for manufacturers which gives them good reason to speak so candidly.

1. LTE Equipped Netbooks From Samsung Gets Shown Off

2. Samsung To Ship More Netbooks Than Asus; Prove It’s About Quantity Not Quality

3. Verizon Will Be Selling Netbooks Through Stores

4. Rumor: RJ45 Ports To Be Removed In Future Netbooks

5. Error 619 Code With Acer 3G Connection Manager