Computer manufacturer Asus is betting therea4‚¬a4„s still a pot of gold to be found in the netbook market, despite decline due to growing competition from tablet computing devices.
The company will team up with Intel on a $200-$250 light-weight netbook featuring either Googlea4‚¬a4„s Chrome operating system or Android Honeycomb 3.0, according to a Digitimes report based on sources from an Asus components maker.
The line of netbooks, the report states, will target people seeking a low-cost device primarily for work or Internet browsing and is said to have a June 2011 launch date. Asus plans to ship six million in 2011.
With iPad 2 launch sales close to 1 million in its first weekend, ita4‚¬a4„s arguable that Asusa4‚¬a4„ netbook strategy is too late to make a large enough impact to translate into success.
A low price point is perhaps the biggest advantage netbooks have over tablets to stay competitive. At roughly half the cost of wifi-only versions of the iPad 2 ($499) and Motorola Xoom ($599), an Asus low-cost netbook could reasonably grab a portion of the market.
But while it might be cost-effective to use Chrome OS &8212' which hasna4‚¬a4„t been in the news much since Google launched its Chrome OS pilot program &8212' Asus would still be going on the assumption that people will want to use it.
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Companies: asus, Google
Companies: asus, Google
Tom Cheredar is a contributing reporter at VentureBeat and freelance journalist. He graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in Journalism. In addition to covering technology, his work can be found at geeksofdoom.com. You can reach him on Twitter at @tched.
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