DisplaySearch has published a netbook sales volume forecast for Q3 2008. Acer became the new leader on the netbook market.

The top five

1. Acer (38.3%)
2. Asus (30.3%)
3. HP (5.8%)
4. MSI (5.7%)
5. Dell (2.8%)

Asus has lost the top spot to Acer, by 450000 netbooks. The two companies control 68.6% of the overall market.
Acer entered the market much later, in july 2008, and sold 5610000 netbooks in just six months.

We can assume that the Acer Aspire One’s success is based on a careful analysis of the initial Eee PC’s success. The Aspire One is a low cost netbook, while other companies tried to elevate their profit margins. The availability with a Linux operating system contribued to lower the price, and negates the claims that a demand for linux based computers does not exist.

You can find DisplayWatch’s detailed report here.