Sam OliverAccording to the report, which was relayed by DigiTimes, Taiwan-based Wintek will start shipping the panels to the Cupertino-based Mac maker sometime during the third quarter of the year for an official launch at an unknown date.
"Wintek revealed that it is currently working with Apple to develop some new products, but it said it does not know what applications the new products are for," the DigiTimes report said. "Wintek added that no shipment schedule has been worked out yet, but shipments are likely to begin in the second half of the year."
In its original report, which isn't accessible on the web, the Commercial Times reportedly went on to say that Quanta Computer will be the company responsible for assembling the new computers.
The move would appear contrary to comments on the netbook segment from members of Apple's top brass, who in recent discussions with Wall Street analysts have downplayed the market for the stripped down, sub-$600 notebooks.
"As we look at the netbook category, that's a nascent category," Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said last fall. "As best as we can tell, there's not a lot of them being sold."
More recent criticisms of the segment came this past January from Apple chief operating office Tim Cook, who noted that netbooks are "principally based on hardware that's much less powerful than we think customers want, software technology that is not good, cramped keyboards, small displays."
"We don't think people will be pleased with those products," he added. "It's a category we watch, we've got some ideas here, but right now we think the products are inferior and will not provide an experience to customers they're happy with."
Unlike DigiTimes, which has proven to be been hit or miss with its forward-looking Apple reports, the Commercial Times has generally been more reliable with its calls on the company. That said, a cursory review reveals that its report Monday on netbooks would represent the newspaper's boldest prediction in some time.
Assuming the report carries some truth, there's also the possibility the displays could be headed for Apple's much rumored Newton/Web tablet of similar proportions, and not a traditional netbook.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
William Gallagher
Amber Neely
141 Comments
about frikkin' time.
oh did I mention I was first?
Agreed, it's about time, it's what the market is asking for.
I never bought into the whole excuse that apple would never make a cheap underpowered machine...particularly when they were saying that at the same time they were selling the mini with specs worse than some netbooks (and for a considerably higher price).
Good news if true for me, my iBook which is used for reading is getting pretty old.
Okay, I'll be the first to call BS on this. I simply don't buy into hype that Apple is going to get into the netbook arena. While they may be selling briskly, they provide little in margin to their manufacturers, and they also provide a poor performance experience. With all the netbook fanbois claims of "browsing, email, yada yada" as being essential ingredients for a netbook -- well, I can do that with an iPhone already. And, there simply isn't enough space on a netbook keyboard for a trackpad large enough for complex gestures, which is a key Apple differentiator and signature capability.
I do think that Apple will come out with what is essentially a larger version of the iTouch, primarily gesture driven (external keyboard optional) as that would (a) differentiated from the rest of the market, (b) portable like a netbook, (c) heavily leverage MultiTouch, and (d) would allow Jon a chance to stretch his legs with some really radical designs.
Smells Fishy. I just dont see much room between the $600 effective price of the iPhone and the $999 of the pretty full featured Mac Book. Would also complicate their product line and marketing greatly.