Foxconn Electronics to land Apple Netbook Deal?
Is Apple releasing their very own netbook despite their very open disinterest, even aversion, to these mini-notebooks?
Chinese-language site, Commercial Times is reporting that the original design manaufacturer Foxconn Electronics, also known was Hon Hai Precision Industry, has landed, or at least will soon land, the deal to churn out little Apple netbooks.
The company has done work with Apple on the iPhone 3G (and possibly the iPhone 3.0 as well) so it’s not a long shot that they will be called upon again.
Foxconn also makes the PS3, Xbox360, and Wii. Its a $40 billion+ turnover company.
Speculations are reaching a fever pitch and it would make sense for Apple to introduce a 10″ iTouch/iNetbook that fills the missing gap between the iPhone and Mac netbooks.
The Inquirer reports that:
“Whispers suggest Apple will attempt to market the device as a portable gadget for reading e-books, connecting to the Interwarble and watching films.”
While Apple has been tight-lipped on the subject, word has it that the new gadget is a 10-inch, touch screen device in the shape of a laptop yet with a tablet design. Of course we can count on Apple not to call it a netbook as to them, netbooks are little more than junk.
While waiting for confirmation from Apple, reports say that product release might be late this year, and while the price should be considerably less than other Apple laptops, we’re also looking at these babies being a little more expensive that your average Asus Eee PC. While not as expensive at the MacBook, we can still expect them to go for at least $600 to $800.
The logical move would be for Apple to release a 10″ netbook that targets 3 areas -
- Internet Browsing, to take on netbooks.
- Streaming Video.
- eBooks, to take on Amazon’s surprisingly successful Kindle 2 and Kindle.
Its not unlike Apple to feign disinterest and then release a product in that exact area. And Apple has to be seeing that netbooks are the only section of the PC industry that are seeing increases in sales.
via DigiTimes and The Inquirer.
Related posts:
- Apple iBook, iNetbook – Why Apple will definitely release a Netbook in 2009
- The Netbook market – Some research
- Silicon Alley Insider air their Netbook ignorance
- Top 10 Netbook Manufacturers – Which Companies sell the most netbooks?
- Top 10 Netbooks – Today’s Most Popular Netbooks
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