We're entering the age of the $200 netbook. Cool.During its quarterly earnings call with investors, Asustek said it plans to drop the price of its already inexpensive line of Eee PCs even further next year.
Asustek President Jerry Shen said that by 2009 his company will offer an entry-level Eee PC beginning at $200.
The motherboard and notebook manufacturer also gave an accounting of how the Eee PC is doing.
The company shipped 1.7 million Eee PCs during the quarter, and expects to ship 1.8 million during the next quarter, which includes the holiday shopping season. In its first quarter on the market a year ago, 350,000 Eee PCs were shipped.
Shen also let on that over time, that won't include the smaller 7-inch and 8-inch Eee PCs, which will be phased out in favor of 10-inch Netbooks.
Asustek also noted that while it ships both Netbooks with hard drives and solid-state drives, those with hard disks represent 70 percent of the total shipments. Seventy percent of its Eee PCs are also shipped with Windows XP, and 30 percent with Linux.
Finally a $200 eee, 7" & 8.9" being phased out, and stats
Moderators: snarkout, Patrick, dann
Finally a $200 eee, 7" & 8.9" being phased out, and stats
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-100 ... 47-1_3-0-5
Re: Finally a $200 eee, 7" & 8.9" being phased out, and stats
I hope they don't phase out the 8.9 inch models because I find them to be the right size for me. At 10.2, it just gets closer to being a notebook, which I already find bulky to carry around at 12-13.3 inches.
And yes, I am talking about the netbooks for the funny guys out there.
And yes, I am talking about the netbooks for the funny guys out there.
Re: Finally a $200 eee, 7" & 8.9" being phased out, and stats
I think even the 7" would be a great irc, email, and penetration testing deamon machine. It's not the size, it how you use it that matters. . I wonder if running text only would save on the battery life?
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Asustek expects to ship US$200 Eee PC in 2009, says president
Monica Chen, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES [Friday 31 October 2008]
Asustek Computer has announced consolidated revenues of NT$78.26 billion (US$2.39 billion) for the third quarter this year, while net profit after tax was NT$6.38 billion, an increase of 13% on quarter, but a drop of 14.2% on year. Combined net profit after tax for the first three quarters of 2008 reached NT$19.25 billion, a drop of 8.4% on year, according to company president Jerry Shen.
Gross margin of the company's motherboard products maintained at 25-30% in the third quarter, while graphics cards were at 15-20% and notebooks 10-15%, noted Shen, adding that because future demand is still unclear plus the likelihood of further currency exchange losses, revenues performance in the fourth quarter should hold level on quarter, while profit will shrink slightly. The company is still uncertain about the outlook for 2009, Shen admitted.
Asustek shipped around 11 million own-brand motherboards in the first half of this year and around six million in the third quarter, the company expects shipments in the fourth quarter to drop 10% sequentially to 5.4 million units to reach an annual shipment of 23 million units.
The company shipped 2.5 million notebooks in the first half of this year, 1.7 million units in the third quarter and is expecting to ship 1.9 million units in the fourth quarter, bringing the company's annual notebook shipments in 2008 to at least six million units. Eee PC shipments in the third quarter were 1.7 million units and shipments are expected to surge to 1.8 million units in the fourth quarter, achieving the company's goal of shipping five million units in 2008.
Regarding reports that Jonney Shih, chairman of Asustek, has forecast a shipments goal of 20 million notebooks and netbooks in 2009, Shen clarified that the figure in for internal use only and not a publicly announced goal. Since market demand is still uncertain, the company will have difficulty meeting this expectation.
Shen expects annual notebook shipments growth in 2009 to be higher than the industry's 10-20%, while the motherboard's percentage will be less than 10%. The company expects to grab a 30% share in the netbook market in 2009 – shipments of 6-7.5 million units out of an estimated 2009 netbook market scale of 20-25 million units.
Shen detailed that the company has adjusted its mid-range and entry-level Eee PC's pricing and market position, and expects to launch an Eee PC priced at US$200 in 2009.
Currently, netbooks with a hard drive are the mainstream specification accounting for 70% of total shipments, while SSDs account for the other 30%. The ratio of Eee PCs preloaded Windows XP and Linux stands at 7:3.
Shen also pointed out that 7- and 8.9-inch Eee PCs will slowly phase out of the market to be replaced by 10-inch products.
Europe is Asustek's major market, contributing around 53% of Asustek's third quarter revenues, while the Asia Pacific region contributed around 36%.
The company's notebook business currently contributes around 47% of the company's revenues, while motherboard and graphics cards are 19%, Eee PC 22%, handheld devices 2% and other products 10%.
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Asustek expects to ship US$200 Eee PC in 2009, says president
Monica Chen, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES [Friday 31 October 2008]
Asustek Computer has announced consolidated revenues of NT$78.26 billion (US$2.39 billion) for the third quarter this year, while net profit after tax was NT$6.38 billion, an increase of 13% on quarter, but a drop of 14.2% on year. Combined net profit after tax for the first three quarters of 2008 reached NT$19.25 billion, a drop of 8.4% on year, according to company president Jerry Shen.
Gross margin of the company's motherboard products maintained at 25-30% in the third quarter, while graphics cards were at 15-20% and notebooks 10-15%, noted Shen, adding that because future demand is still unclear plus the likelihood of further currency exchange losses, revenues performance in the fourth quarter should hold level on quarter, while profit will shrink slightly. The company is still uncertain about the outlook for 2009, Shen admitted.
Asustek shipped around 11 million own-brand motherboards in the first half of this year and around six million in the third quarter, the company expects shipments in the fourth quarter to drop 10% sequentially to 5.4 million units to reach an annual shipment of 23 million units.
The company shipped 2.5 million notebooks in the first half of this year, 1.7 million units in the third quarter and is expecting to ship 1.9 million units in the fourth quarter, bringing the company's annual notebook shipments in 2008 to at least six million units. Eee PC shipments in the third quarter were 1.7 million units and shipments are expected to surge to 1.8 million units in the fourth quarter, achieving the company's goal of shipping five million units in 2008.
Regarding reports that Jonney Shih, chairman of Asustek, has forecast a shipments goal of 20 million notebooks and netbooks in 2009, Shen clarified that the figure in for internal use only and not a publicly announced goal. Since market demand is still uncertain, the company will have difficulty meeting this expectation.
Shen expects annual notebook shipments growth in 2009 to be higher than the industry's 10-20%, while the motherboard's percentage will be less than 10%. The company expects to grab a 30% share in the netbook market in 2009 – shipments of 6-7.5 million units out of an estimated 2009 netbook market scale of 20-25 million units.
Shen detailed that the company has adjusted its mid-range and entry-level Eee PC's pricing and market position, and expects to launch an Eee PC priced at US$200 in 2009.
Currently, netbooks with a hard drive are the mainstream specification accounting for 70% of total shipments, while SSDs account for the other 30%. The ratio of Eee PCs preloaded Windows XP and Linux stands at 7:3.
Shen also pointed out that 7- and 8.9-inch Eee PCs will slowly phase out of the market to be replaced by 10-inch products.
Europe is Asustek's major market, contributing around 53% of Asustek's third quarter revenues, while the Asia Pacific region contributed around 36%.
The company's notebook business currently contributes around 47% of the company's revenues, while motherboard and graphics cards are 19%, Eee PC 22%, handheld devices 2% and other products 10%.