Smug toddlers and emerging markets
Intel's senior vice president and general manager
of the Ultra Mobility Group, Anand Chandrasekher, thinks netbooks are
not really good for adults, but they are fantastic for kids.
"For a kid, a Netbook is fantastic, as an adult
you probably want a notebook. So, there are very simple ways of
positioning and thinking about it," said Chandrasekher at IDF Beijing.
Last year Stu Pann, vice president in Intel's sales and marketing
group, said the company had originally envisioned netbooks as low-cost
products for emerging markets and young kids, but most netbooks are, in fact, ending up with more serious consumers. He also added that a
10-inch screen if "fine for an hour", and it's not something you would
like to use on a daily basis.
CNET sees these Intel comments as an attempt to reposition Atom-based
netbooks, and we agree. In fact, we already talked about Intel's unwillingness to drop any Atom related restrictions, and we know quite
a few people in the company are not happy about well spec'd, stylish
netbooks selling for about $500, as Atoms were supposed to be reserved
for very affordable low-end products.
It is probably no coincidence that Intel is trying to show the Atom in
a slightly different light just weeks before the first CULV-based notebooks
start to appear in retail.
More
here.