Netbooks Dominate Amazon Laptop Sales

From Gizmodo -

Nine of the top ten selling notebooks on Amazon right now are netbooks (or subnotebooks), with the other spot is being taken by Apple. Complaints about being underpowered, undersized keyboards, miniature screens aside, this is just another proof of the booming market segment. While overall, netbooks are not yet outselling the entire industry, other market trends appear to predict a growing share leading into the holiday season.

Asus prepares launch of 10.2" notebook

From Digitimes -

Asus is reportedly launching a 10.2" N-series Atom-based notebook in September that might serve as a catalyst for medium-size panel demand, some industry watchers commented. It will be priced at NT$15,000-20,000 (USD477.8-637.00)and will support Windows Vista and hard drives up to 320GB.

The new notebook will be different from the Eee PC product line.

Eee PC helps Asus become sixth largest PC vendor

From Digitimes -

Per IDC, Asus now ranks as the 6th largest PC vendor, with a total of 2.1 million notebooks shipped for Q1 2008. But without the Eee PC shipment of 700,000, Asus would drop down to 8th, behind Fujitsu and Apple. Total low-cost PC shipments for 2008 is estimated to reach eight million units.

Asus reveals Eee PC spinoff will be touchscreen only

From Current (Austrialia) -

Asus Australia national retail manager Emmanuele Silanesu was quoted as saying Asus was “obviously looking at other form factors rather than just a clamshell” and that a new model would use a touchscreen and might be launched at at Taipei Computex show next month. He also hinted the new model may not be badged as an Eee PC, due to its change in usage.

Source article here.

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Hmmm. But doesn't Asus already have a touchscreen UMPC in its R2H, which isn't branded as an Eee PC?

ASUS wants you to know that women and children are strong enough for an Eee PC

From Engadget -

The product page for the Asus Eee PC 900 includes this line: "8.9-inch screen does not affect the overall weight of the Eee PC 900, which remains below 1 kg -- allowing children and women to carry it with ease."

Source article here.

Asus, MSI use same stock photo for their ads

Our friend Sascha Pallenberg made a very interesting discovery regarding the ad campaigns of Asus (for their Eee PC) and MSI (for their Wind) -

MSI Wind Photo Ad -




Asus Eee PC Photo Ad -





Obviously one or the other must have used a photoshopped version. Right? Wrong. It turns out both actually used photoshopped versions. The original version has the Mac Airbook -




You can read Sascha's original post (in German) here. Google translated site is available here.

Three New Flavours For Asus EEE PC 4G-X Laptop

From funponsel -

Asus has unveiled three more colors for the Asus Eee PC 4G-X. They are Sky Blue, Rush Green, and Brush Pink. The new colors will be released in Japan starting May 3.

4Gs being shipped in 4G Surf boxes?

Just came across this Eeeph thread in which some of the members are claiming their Asus Eee PC 4G 701s came in boxes labeled Asus Eee PC 4G Surf.

In the thread, member sugarcup mentioned that her unit is a Surf as it says on the box but it has a webcam, contrary to what the other members have mentioned. Then donapie mentioned the same thing. Then shinrai suggested Asus might have ran out of the right boxes. :)

By the way, most of the members are from the Philippines, so they presumably had bought their units in the Philippines.

Asus: Eee PC shipments to soar in Q2

Per Infoworld -

Asus has announced it will nearly double shipments of the Eee PC for the second quarter as compared to the first. Shipments will hit 1.2M to 1.3M for Q2, compared to 700,000 the previous quarter.

Full article can be read here.

Asus plans Eee spin-off; 10- and 11-inch Eee PCs to come

From Digitimes -

Asus is considering spinning off the Eee brand with a lineup products including the original Eee PC notebook, an Eee TV (E-TV), an Eee desktop (E-DT), and an Eee monitor which are all expected to be introduced by the end of the third quarter this year.

Also in addition to the Eee PC 900, Asus will launch the Eee PC 1001 with a 10-inch panel as well as an 11-inch model by the end of this year.

Asus to Launch 10" Eee PC

Per PC World Asus is planning to launch a new Eee PC with a 10" LCD later this year. It will be the biggest screen an Eee PC will ever get since the company defines anything with a 12" screen or larger a classic notebook PC, not an Eee PC. In addition, it projects the new 8.9" Eee PC 900 will account for 50% of overall Eee PC sales by June and 60% by the 2nd half of the year.

The Eee PC 900 went on sale Monday in Taiwan for NT$15,988, or about USD528.

You can read the entire article here.

Asus Can't Ship Enough Eee PC, To Unveil New Models at Computex

Via Uberpulse -

Intel shows off mystery Asus Eee PC rival

According to Register Hardware, showcased three Atom-based machines, including the Asus Eee PC, in the run-up to the Intel Developer Forum.

The second brand, shown in the photo below, is Thinno. It demo'd two models - one with Red Had Linux and the other with Win XP. Both were equipped with 1.6GHz Atoms and 512MB RAM. Other features include a 7" 800 x 480 LCD and an ExpressCard 34 slot among others.



The third brand, shown below, was not named. Neither were specifications divulged. The demo unit also did not have any ports, suggesting it is merely a prototype.




We are not sure what to make of the third brand but the report was dated April 1 so it could very well be an April Fools' joke.

Fire Factory to Cause Battery Shortage

According to Yahoo! News, a March 3 fire at LG Chem's Ochang factory has contributed to a shortage of laptop batteries, especially for Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Asus. In fact, the fire at LG Chem, S. Korea's 2nd largest battery maker, could conceivably affect up to 40% of 2nd quarter shipments at Asus. Dell, on the other hand, expects minimal impact.

LG Chem said it expected the Ochang plant to start production again in two to three months.

You can read the full article here.

Study: Laptop heat a threat to fertility

According ZDNet State University of New York study suggests heat generated from laptops can significantly elevate the temperature of the scrotum, potentially putting sperm count at risk. It thus creates a dilemma for the growing segment of the working world that relies on laptops - whether to be productive at work or in the bedroom.

The study found that using a laptop in a sitting position with the laptop balanced on the lap can raise scrotum temperature by as much as 2.8 degrees Celsius.

The full article can be read here.

Asus Eee PC to Get Intel Diamondville, Hard Drives

Per Laptop's hour long interview with Asus CEO Jerry Shen, plans for the Asus Eee PC include -

* A 8.9" display and Windows XP: The Eee PC 900 will have a 8.9-inch 1024 x600 screen resolution and will be available in April. There will be an 8GB SSD Windows XP mdeol and a 12GB/20GB SSD Xandros model.

* Hard Drives: Asus is considering offering regular hard drives in the future.

* Intel’s Diamondville will adopted in Q2.

* In May or June, Asus will release “very stylish” versions of the Eee PC.

For the full interview, visit the Laptop site here.

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Regular Hard Drives? What is Asus thinking of again? It is as if they'd rather the Eee PC conform to the competition than to make it further stand out. Quite disappointing, to say the least.

Also Shen is quoted in the interview the initial price for the new model will be $499 but the market will likely force them to drop the price down by June. So I guess he is telling us not to by in April but in June???

More Asus Eee PC 900 details

Additional details of the Asus Eee 900 have been reported by ZDNet UK -

The Asus Eee 900 will feature an 8.9" 1024 x 600 screen, 1GB RAM, maximum SSD storage of 12GB, and a 1.3MB webcam. These enhancements however will mean a slight reduction in battery life and a substantial increase in the price.

Other changes include the moving of the speakers from their current position straddling the screen to the underside of the unit. Options will include Bluetooth, WiMax modules, and Windows XP.

The Linux model will cost €399 or about an increase of roughly a third over the price of the original 701 model. The Windows version will be more expensive.

And according to the same ZDNET UK article, the Eee PC 900 will be available in Asia this month, and in Europe in April. Also of note was Asus' announcement of a partnership with T-Mobile Germany, which will see the operator distribute Eee PCs with bundled Wi-Fi minutes or HSDPA dongles.

Asus claims it will sell between three and five million Eee PCs this year and that recent stock supply problems will "be getting better" in the second quarter of this year.

Sony leery of the Asus Eee PC?

From Crave -




At Sony's annual Open House event, Sony's IT product division senior vice president Mike Abary said if the Asus Eee PC starts to do well, it could potentially shift the entire notebook industry into a race to the bottom.

If mainstream PC buyers start to find their needs met by a lightweight, simply featured, inexpensive portable, it's likely to impel all of the major players in the industry to pile on by lowering their prices. And that's in an industry with already low margins for retailers and manufacturers.

So should Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and their ilk be frightened of Asus? So far, the version of the Eee PC in the U.S. only comes with Linux, but that will soon change. Japan got its Windows XP version last month, and the U.S. should be getting one in the next few weeks.

And even with just the open-source version available stateside, the numbers say it's striking a nerve: the company reported moving 350,000 units of the Eee in the first quarter it was available last fall.

Sony's not the only one taking notice. Acer is reportedly readying an Eee competitor, and the HP Compaq 2133 was developed with the Eee firmly in mind.

As for Sony, though it did start offering lower-priced notebooks last year in the $800 range, don't expect the company to go any lower just yet. Abary says so far the company is just "keeping an eye" on the Eee's activity.

Complete article here.

Low-cost PC market to reach 13M units in 2008

From Digitimes -

As major PC vendors prepare to launch low-cost PCs in Q2, order volumes to Taiwan OEMs in the second half of the year will likely reach 13 million units in 2008.

OEMs Wistron and Quanta Computer are the beneficiaries of the boom, with Acer having already placed additional orders of around one million units with Wistron, while HP has placed orders for two million low-cost PC with the company. Quanta will also act as one of Acer's OEMs for low-cost PCs.

HP is planning to launch its low-cost PC, the Mini-NB, in April. It will have an 8.9-inch LCD.

Low-cost PCs: Product specifications
Company	HP	Acer	Asustek
Target market	Enterprise (MTC) Consumer (Mini-NB)	Not yet set	Consumer (Eee PC)
Panel size (1G models)	8.9-inch	8.9-inch	7-inch
Price	NT$15,000 -25,000 (US$480 -800)	NT$15,000 -20,000	NT$10,000 -14,000
Storage	Traditional hard drive	Traditional hard drive or SSD	SSD
Major OEMs	Wistron	Wistron and Quanta	Pegatron
Launch date	March-May	April	May (2nd generation)

Asus lowers Q1 08 Eee PC shipments estimate

From Digitimes -

Asus has revised its Eee PC shipments forecast for the first quarter of 200, down to around 700,000 units from the originally estimated one million.

While orders in the first quarter of 2008 have already surpassed one million units, hardware problems with 8GB models have delayed shipments to the second quarter.