Asus to phase out 9 inch netbooks, focus on 10 inch models

901-no-go As expected, it looks like Asus will be phasing out all of its Eee PC netbooks with 8.9 inch displays soon. The goal is to focus on laptops with 10 inch screens, which are quickly becoming standard.

Netbooks with larger displays tend to have larger keyboards, which makes them easier to type on. So while there’s no actual difference in screen resolution between netbooks with 9 inch displays and those with 10 inch screens (both tend to have 1024 x 600 pixel displays, give or take a few pixels), the larger models may be easier for some people to use.

Asus expects 95% of its netbook shipments in 2010 to be 10 inch Eee PC models. The other 5% will be netbooks with 7 inch screens. Those smaller netbooks will probably sold through telephone companies.

Posted on Thursday, February 19th, 2009, 9:20 am by Brad Linder

http://bran.do brandon

This seems odd to me.. 15″ notebooks have even bigger monitors and keyboards.. I got a 901 BECAUSE it's small..
Lee

This is ridiculous. Why is everybody so quick to do away with the 8.9 inch screen? I liked the Eee and similar computers specifically because of its very small size and now with these 10 inch models you might as well just throw in a DVDRW drive and a regular processor and get it over with!

Maybe thats a bit of a stretch but still… if these companies did any type of market research they would see that there is still a big market for the smaller models too. Part of the “wow” factor with these netbooks especially when I first got my Eee 701 4G a year and a half ago was its size.

I can see it all now… Asus introduces their new 1700HD netbook. The first netbook with a 17″ screen. 21″ netbooks are on the way! Count me out………..
DG

As I've said elsewhere, this is a sign of major screw-up by Asus in having such a huge range of indistinguishable options. If they'd had at any one time a definitive 7″, 8.9″ and 10″ machine they wouldn't be in this mess and would serve their potential customers better. Now they're in this morass which is presumably costing them a ton in wasted stock as potential customers opt for more straightforward brands, they're probably rationalising the only way that remotely saves their face.
Joshua Ochs

Very sad to see this go. Glad I got my 901 when it came out; I'll hang on to it as long as I can!

I will say, however, that the new keyboard on the 1000HE is such an improvement that it may justify this. It would help ease the situation if it wasn't such a huge brick of a 10-incher, though.
nicfer

If they are going to do 7″ netbooks, they should not be 8.9″ ones with smaller screens, they should manage to get the keyboard / mainboard smaller and voila! you got a thing that is almost handheld. It would be pretty nice one of them,
BoloMKXXVIII

If the demand is there, someone else will fill the hole in the market. I just hope they make quality netbooks.
Nate

I guess this explains why the prices have been dropping like a rock on all of the 90X models.

It's a shame, too. To me, once you hit the 10 inch mark, the advantage of netbooks is kind of out the window.
ashwood

Phasing out 8.9 inch netbooks doesn't make sense. Millions of them have been sold. There is a market for it. Poeple are buying this size of netbooks for their portability. I think 8.9 inch screen is the perfect size for me.

I think it might turn out to be a mistake for Asus if this news is true.
http://rodmacphersonphotography.com Rod

Why hold on to the 7″ models?

The 7″ ones have the same footprint as the 8.9″ ones but lower res screen with more of a border around it. …why not keep the 8.9″ ??? that seems the perfect mix of small footprint, and large (as large as you can get in that footprint) screen. I plan to buy a Netbook in 2009 and it will be an 8.9 ” model, it's really just down to which one. If I have to buy an eeepc 901HA via ebay then so be it. if Asus doesn't wan to make a sale on a new one I don't mind buying used to get what I want.
Linc (MonkeykIng)

Well, at this time with the world-wide economy doing so poorly Asus us likely doing what they need to do to stay in teh game.

Asus isn't stupid, they know what they are selling and must know what the buyers around the world are placing orders for, so they must be doing what is in their best interest now.
BoloMKXXVIII

I am not so sure Asus knows what they are doing. They went from practically inventing the modern netbook to being the second largest seller. Now they are killing off one of their most popular series and have started adding MS office. It is a good thing there are so many players in the game now.
http://www.notebooknotes.com visu

I'm sure they have run the numbers and the 10-inch models will make more money, but some kind of VAIO P model would be cool, too.
ericklamothe

As a very satisfied EEE PC 901 XP user I will be sorry to See that Asus is departing from providing 8.9 screen devices on the market and I am sure I am not alone in this. The slight portability attraction over 10 and 11 screen size alternatives that these devices offer should not be underestimated.
wyscj

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Peter Verkooijen

I finally have a bit of disposable money to replace my bulky Dell Latitude D420 with a truly portable 9-inch netbook and now it's impossible again to buy them! Why?!

I used to have a very light 10-inch Sharp laptop before netbooks took off. I always had people in cafes asking me about it, where they could get it, how cool it was. It was no surprise to me that netbooks became a hit when Asus etc. entered the market.

But Cnet and others keep giving below 10-inch notebooks low grades and retailers and manufacturers seem to believe that bigger is always better. Morons!
Peter Verkooijen

I finally have a bit of disposable money to replace my bulky Dell Latitude D420 with a truly portable 9-inch netbook and now it's impossible again to buy them! Why?!

I used to have a very light 10-inch Sharp laptop before netbooks took off. I always had people in cafes asking me about it, where they could get it, how cool it was. It was no surprise to me that netbooks became a hit when Asus etc. entered the market.

But Cnet and others keep giving below 10-inch notebooks low grades and retailers and manufacturers seem to believe that bigger is always better. Morons!

Asus to phase out 9 inch netbooks, focus on 10 inch models

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