Chip maker Freescale thinks that the number of Netbooks sold in 2009
will double to 30 Million and they want a piece of the pie currently
claimed by the likes of Intel, AMD and VIA. And it appears they’ve got
an appetite for Android, possibly rolling out a $199 Android Netbook as
early as this summer.
Glen Burchers, Marketing Director for Freescale, was quoted by Reuters as saying:
“Freescale believes netbooks built around its technology
will be able to be made at a cost of about $100. Netbook prices
currently start at about $200.”
He further pushed the $199 price point when asked what type of person would buy a netbook in economically difficult times:
“Nobody needs this stuff but they want it, everybody
wants it. And at the price point of $199, it’s a great Christmas
present or birthday present.”
One quick skimming of the article’s first paragraph puts all of the pieces together:
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Chip maker Freescale, which began
making chips for small netbook laptop computers last month, plans to
expand its offering to include chipsets for Google’s Android operating
system by next quarter.
So there you have it… a Freescale Android Netbook for $199 This
Summer is certainly a likely scenario! Unfortunately, that isn’t the
entire story. The original article came from Reuters who corrected
their initial publication, clarifying the title as “CORRECTED - MOBILE
FAIR-Freescale aims to sell Android netbook chips in Q2″ and offering
the following explanation:
(Corrects headline to show company is selling the chipset for the Android netbooks, not the netbooks themselves)
The $199 is probably still on target but the Summer shipment could
mean sales of the Android Netbook chips which would inevitably mean the
actual Netbooks would come out AFTER the chips were signed, sealed and
delivered. Could this still mean summer? Sure… but have that summer
lemonade with a grain of salt instead of a packet of sugar. One thing
is for sure… Android Netbooks with Freescale chips are going to come in
2009 at a ridiculously low price which is reason enough to be excited.
