A new report from the NPD Group, a consumer market research firm, concludes that the Apple MacBook Air is far and away the most popular notebook in the thin-and-light category. The NPD research indicates that Apple's ultra-thin laptop has a market share of 56 percent, and shows no signs of ceding any of that territory to its competitors.

CNET reports that the remaining 46 percent of the market is split up among various PC manufacturers, such as Dell, Samsung and Asus.

The MacBook Air's dominance in this market sector seems destined to continue, as the company recently updated the line with better battery life, faster processors and enhancements to its solid state storage designs. According to AppleInsider.com, a site that tracks Apple news, NPD's data doesn't even include sales of the newest version of the Air.

Other laptop makers have focused heavily on integrating touch screens into notebooks. Apple has instead remained consistent in keeping this technology as part of its iPad 4, iPad mini and iPhone products, rather than adopting it into the MacBook Air. It will be interesting to see if customers continue to favor this approach, or if the onslaught of Windows 8-enabled notebooks will be able to steal some share of the market back.

The MacBook Air provides users with a superb mobile experience, especially those customers who travel frequently or rely heavily on their device's battery. Despite weighing less than three pounds and being less than three quarters of an inch thick, these computers, which you can purchase from PortableOne, provide outstanding steed, storage capabilities and graphics performance that make them suitable for use in many industries and fields.