Last time I counted, Asus had over a dozen distinct Eee PC mini-laptops in its lineup. And I haven’t bothered to count in a while, but it’s wholly possible that the number has doubled since then. Asus doesn’t have the same kind of infrastructure as a company like Dell or HP which lets users pick and choose which components they want in a single computer model. So the only way to give customers a choice in screen size, hard drive or solid state disk, or other features is to manufacture a completely different model. But it costs money to keep pumping out all those different models, and it doesn’t necessarily seem to have helped Asus profit. Acer sold more Aspire One netbooks in 2008 than all the Asus Eee PC models combined. And up until recently there was only one computer in the Aspire One lineup.

A few weeks back, a rumor hit the web, saying that Asus would be consolidating its netbook lineup in 2009. And now PC World reports that that Asus CEO Jerry Shen has confirmed that rumor.

It’s not clear at the moement which netbook models Asus will be retiring. And the company has recently announced several new machines including the Eee PC 1000HE and the touchscreen-toting Eee PC T91 and T101H. So while it may be safe to assume we won’t have 2 dozen Eee PC configurations by the end of the year, it doesn’t look like Asus is going to take a page out of Acer’s book and offer just a single Eee PC mini-laptop.

Update: It looks like Asus will be phasing out some of its netbooks with 9 inch displays and shifting its focus to 10 inch mini-laptops. Asus CEO Jerry Shen says this means the average Eee PC price will probably go up a bit, but that the company does not plan to implement an across the board price hike as had been rumored.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,547 other subscribers

7 replies on “Asus to reduce number of Eee PC models”

  1. Really sad that they’ll phase out the 8.9″ devices….

    The size/form factor of the 700/900 Eee PCs is what started all of the netbook craze, and now they’re ditching it!

    What gives?!

  2. when you see an asus online or on a shelf you can spend ages trying to work out what exact variant it is.

    if you are into modifying your hardware it can be more akward. remember the extra slot on the original asus eeepc 701s? with hte current variability you don’t know what you are going to get.

    it’s a pity the 7″ inch netbooks were dropped. they were very distinct. now as the size creeps up they look just like lesser laptops somehow.

      1. i have a 701 eeepc. love the little gizmo. it’s a pity that they didn’t keep developing the size format. maybe add a version with a disk/bluetooth. even a smaller version (lose the dead space around the screen but keep it at 7″) that was a tablet perhaps.

        currently using an acer aspire one. needed winxp for nokia and ipod updates. also causes less hassle at work were my boss gave me an official warning for using firefox.

        1. I use a 900ha, which is roughly the same size as your 701, but it has a 9 inch lcd and a hard drive. I, previously, owned a 701.

          I really hope they don’t stop development on the smaller models. If they’re all going to go big, it kind of defeats the purpose.

  3. Based on some of the things that he said in the conference call, I’m guessing they’re going to kill off a pile of the nine inch machines.

Comments are closed.