Notebook vendors including Asustek Computer, Acer, Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Samsung Electronics and Toshiba have all already started selling their latest Cedar Trail-based netbooks in January or February with Acer having released an Atom N2600-based model priced below NT$10,000 in Taiwan, according to sources from channel retailer.
However, compared to Acer, no other Taiwan vendors has been promoting their products.
To boost netbook demand, Intel has strengthened the platform's specifications including the adoption of 32nm process, playback of 1080p video and Blu-ray contents, support of HDMI and DisplayPort, double the graphics performance, battery longevity of 10 hours and a 20% lower power consumption compared to the previous platform.
However, despite the fact that Intel has significantly improved the new platform, impact from tablet PCs plus the starting price of the new machines at below US$350 are both affecting notebook vendors from pushing the segment aggressively. In 2012, netbook shipments are expected to suffer another 20% drop on year.
Asustek and Acer have already turned their major market focuses for netbook business to Southeast Asia and emerging markets with Asustek expected to maintain shipments of five million netbooks in 2012, while Acer to ship four million units in the year.
Article translated by Joseph Tsai
