Mac laptops less reliable than ASUS, Sony notebooks

Apple may have played its cards right by not moving into the netbook market, according to SquareTrade's data. Netbooks, which the warranty firm defined as notebooks sold for less than $400, fail at a higher rate than more expensive alternatives. After just a year, netbooks fail at a rate 23% higher than entry-level laptops, those priced between $400 and $1,000, and at a rate 38% higher than notebooks that cost more than $1,000. By the end of three years, a quarter of netbooks will have malfunctioned, said SquareTrade.

"It's difficult to compare apples to apples," noted Tseng, "no pun intended," referring to comparisons between netbooks and higher-priced notebooks. "Netbooks have been sold in scale only the last 12 months, and up until the last six months, netbook sales were dominated by ASUS and Acer."

While ASUS held the No. 1 spot of the nine notebook makers, netbook rival Acer was No 7, with a three-year projected malfunction rate of 23.3%.

"It's just a guess, but one explanation for the higher failure rate of netbooks is that the components are typically cheaper," Tseng said when asked why netbooks failed at a higher rate than more expensive notebooks. "Early on, when component costs were fairly high [for netbook makers] because of their low volume, they were taking the lowest bidder on components."

Apple's executives, including its CEO Steve Jobs, have repeatedly dismissed netbooks when asked whether the company would enter that category. In October 2008, Jobs famously said, "We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk."

SquareTrade's data was based on an average of 3,000 laptops from each of the nine manufacturers, and tracked the actual lifecycle of the machine, since it offers warranties only to buyers within 90 days of a hardware purchase. "The vast majority of the warranties are bought within 30 days," Tseng confirmed.

SquareTrade's report can be downloaded from the company's site (download PDF).

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