Notebook Sales: Let the Good Times Roll

Intel's earnings announcement this week

That DisplaySearch can even suggest, despite the gloom and doom and talk of a recession, that the industry is still on track for 44 percent, year-over-year growth in mobile PCs for the full year may raise some eyebrows.

And it's not as if analysts can say that even if the U.S. is in a down economy, another geography will be strong. Economists (not to mention the worldwide stock markets) have been pointing to signs of a major global slowdown.

Luckily, chipmakers and OEMs have spent the past 18 months flooding the market with innovation, better performance, better energy efficiency and better pricing. In a down economy, good, old-fashioned quality and value may be the driver that keeps this segment of IT relatively strong while other industries are in trouble.