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I’m so confused. Yesterday DigiTimes reported that a shortage in netbook parts including CPUs were driving up prices. Since one of the companies mentioned was Intel, I figured we might have another Atom shortage on our hands. But in a separate article, DigiTimes claims that Intel actually has a surplus of Atom chips thanks to cooling demand.

According to the second report, netbooks are facing increased competition from laptops using Intel’s new Consumer Ultra Low Voltage processors and similar CPUs from other companies. Intel is reportedly trying to offload some of its surplus stock in China and other developing markets.

But what it really comes down to is that all of these reports siting “industry sources” should be taken with a grain of salt. Because different sources hear different things. Until Intel comes right out and says it’s raising or lowering prices of its processors, introducing a new chip, or phasing out an oold one, we won’t really know for sure what’s going on. One thing is clear though. The netbook market today is still dominated by machines using Intel Atom processors.

Update: Asus weighs in, saying that its chip supply “is on target.”