Computex Taipei is in full swing as I write this, and one of the hot product categories is cheap notebook PCs. Since the display industry is not known for ignoring popular new applications, display makers are enthusiastically gearing up to make more of the 7-, 8.9-, and 10-inch displays favored by manufacturers of these new systems.

Ken Werner
Senior Analyst and Editor

Taiwan’s Asustek Computer has an early success in the category with its Eee PC, which has a 7-inch LCD display, 802.11b/g WiFi and 10/100 LAN interfaces, 512MB of memory, a 4GB flash drive, built-in webcam, 40 built-in applications, and Linux OS. This 2-pound package is selling for $399 at J&R Electronics in New York.

But that’s just the beginning. Micro-Star International was expected to use Computex for the official launch of its 10-inch Wind series of notebooks and Acer is planning to launch a low-cost 8.9-inch Aspire PC in Europe for €299 (US$470) during the next few weeks. Asustek looked at all this activity and decided to accelerate its plans to launch a 10.2-inch version of the Eee PC. The Eee PC 1000 was launched at Computex, as was an 8.9-inch version called the Eee PC 901. All of these systems use Intel’s new Atom N230 CPU. Industry sources said Asustek is also preparing lower-priced versions of its current models.

An Asustek spokesperson said the Eee PC 1000 will be available in Taiwan later this month for the equivalent of US$560, with introduction in other markets following quickly. The company plans to ship 5M Eee PCs this year, with the 8.9-inch version accounting for 50% of all shipments.

Intel is promoting its new, low-power ATOM processors at Computex, and projects a big market for ultra low-cost PCs that can fit in a pocket and for Netbooks - PCs selling for about $250. Intel announced the availability of two Atom processors, the Atom N270 processor and the Atom 230 chip. The company also described two new chip sets - the 945GSE for Netbooks and the 945GC for Nettops - that feature integrated graphics and support for numerous I/O ports. There are already shortages of ATOM CPUs, so Asustek may launch a 10-inch NPC later this year that uses an Intel Celeron M, company sources say.

Market research firm IDC predicts the Netbook/Nettop market could be worth $3B by 2012, but Intel CEO Paul Otellini has predicted the market will be much larger.

The netbook category is new and very much in flux, with makers defining and redefining product sub-categories and product features as they go. Asustek, for instance, is planning to launch a 9-inch Eee PC with a larger keyboard. Acer’s 8.9-inch "Aspire one" for the European market offers a choice of 8GB solid-state drive (SSD) or 80GB hard drive, and will ship with either Linpus Linux Lite or Windows XP. It will initially ship with Wi-Fi support, but Acer will offer WiMax and 3G options later in the year.

We are just at the beginning of this new product category, and the interaction between its evolving products and the displays, processors and architectures that will enable them. We look forward to following their evolution.