There’s a lot of armchair analysis around the story today that netbook sales have slowed. Most are attributing the “sharp reversal in the trend” to the growth of the iPad. The problem with this position and analysis is two-fold.

First of all, and most importantly, the sales data was collected from before the release of the iPad. The iPad simply could not have affected netbook sales, since the iPad did not exist at the time.

The other problem with this analysis is in CNet’s actual reporting – there is no “dramatic slowdown” here.  If anything, it’s better described as slowed growth.

Electronista had the numbers everyone’s referring to:

Interest in netbooks has slowed dramatically in the first few months of 2010, according to new data from IDC. The number of the mini netbooks shipping grew less than 20 percent in the first quarter of the year and was accompanied by a steep drop in interest for the Atom processors that power them. Intel’s shipments of Atoms dropped from just over 24 percent of all notebook processors to 20 percent; the revenue from the chips dropped 19 percent at the same time.

If we look back to data discussed by Paul Thurott on WindowsIT Pro back in September of 2009, mini netbook sales:

According to a report by DisplaySearch, sales growth of netbooks outpaced sales growth of traditional notebook computers by almost 200 percent. PC makers shipped about 38 million portable computers in Q3 2009, according to the study, with overall sales growing 22 percent. But sales of netbooks grew a whopping 40 percent.

The rate of growth has indeed, if the numbers are correct and compatible, slowed by half, but then so have sales of the notebooks as a whole. Indeed, in 2009, netbooks were 22% of all notebook sales. In 2010, they’re 20%.

The iPad isn’t killing netbooks – or at least not yet.