Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
edit:
December 28th, @11:18AM
| reply to TK Junk Mail
Re: Where does the Eee PC fit in ?
quote:
I still doubt this particular size of device will catch on or make many sales.
Their price point is already driving down prices among lower end laptops. I like the idea of something inexpensive between a cellphone and a $1,000-$3,000 laptop, but with a full keyboard and real screen real estate.
Working on the Treo keyboard is a pain, but I also don't like the weight of a 15"-17" laptop.
I think it has a niche. It's been very very popular so far. Both among tech geeks and kids looking for a low-end laptop. It's also proving to be very modable, which is a good sign for longevity.... |
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jester121
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL
 ·ViaTalk
| Their price point isn't doing squat to laptop prices, because no one's heard of these things. As you mentioned in your article, its target audience is technophiles, a group that has shown little price sensitivity when it comes to the "gee whiz" factor or just being on the bleeding edge.
Cheap laptops came about due to simple economics -- as a product approaches commodity status, its price tends to decrease. The same thing happened to PCs in the 90s, and for exactly the same reason. |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
edit:
December 28th, @03:26PM
| quote:
no one's heard of these things.
Not sure where you've been hiding....
»news.google.com/news?hl=en&clien···rch+News
Current revenue projections have the Eee becoming Asus's largest single revenue source in 2008:
»www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile/dis···tek.html
I don't think ASUS is single-handedly responsible for the looming flood of sub-$500 laptops, but the Eee is playing a part.... |
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jester121
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL
·ViaTalk
| Not hiding anywhere, Karl. Just calling "bullshit" on you for your editorial statement about this making a difference in laptop pricing.
As of Christmas they'd sold 300,000 units in the quarter. They expect to ship 1 million *worldwide* in Q1 2008. *yawn*
Those numbers aren't big enough to move pricing in the slightest. We've had the cheap-o laptop specials for the past 2 holiday seasons and even normal pricing has settled down where you can get a decent middle-of-the-road unit for less then a grand. Oh, and that laptop comes with Windows XP, which most users are familiar with.
(Oh, and I'm not real impressed by PR-firm generated links that talk about "predictions" and "projections".)
Pretty neat product, but the keyboard is too small for us fat Americans, and it's still Linux (I doubt the average consumer is going to want to buy an XP license and fart around with installing that). Oh, and keep in mind that outside of gamers and hobbyists, most people have never heard of Asus.
*yawn* |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| quote:
Not hiding anywhere, Karl. Just calling "bullshit" on you for your editorial statement about this making a difference in laptop pricing.
Since when is a forum opinion an "editorial statement?"
Wow. Don't I feel official.  Perhaps I was wrong and the EeePC won't/hasn't impacted low-end laptop pricing in the slightest. Was basing my statement off of tech blog chatter. Where do you work?
I read a rumor this week that Apple's releasing a low-end dirt-cheap laptop in '08 aimed largely at doing battle with the EEePC. |
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