Asus clearly didn’t get the memo that netbooks are dead. Tablets killed them. Or rather so goes the popular narrative. In real life consumers will continue to look for low-cost alternatives to traditional notebooks and Asus will clearly be there, ready with new models to fill this increasingly niche demand.
The pics here come by way of ASUSDesign, a Asus site dedicated to highlighting products that won various awards, describes the PC Flare 1025/1225 as a “revolution of the Asus EeePC.” The quick blurb also talks about “perfect flowing curves” and “high taste of simple” but fails to mention the projected announcement schedule. And unlike other items on the Asus website, there isn’t a link to netbook’s product page. Still, with CES next week, it’s probably a safe bet that these netbooks will officially debut at the massive consumer electronic trade show.
Asus has always been the netbook champion. Its Eee PC line made Asus a serious consumer brand. The company is not going to simply close up shop and walk away from a product type that it help pioneer. The expensive groundwork of marketing and consumer brand recognition is done. Why not keep the store open a few more hours and hope for the best. Besides, Intel is not done with netbooks either.
Intel’s next-gen netbook platform is said to bring better battery life and increased performance to the sub-notebooks. Code-named Cedar Trail, the next player in the Atom line, will likely headline many netbook announcements at CES 2012. Asus won’t be the only company announcing new netbooks. If Internet rumors are believed, look for Cedar Trail netbooks from Acer, Toshiba, Lenovo, Samsung, and, of course, Asus.
These latest models seem to be from the same mold as the Asus Transformer Prime. They share many of the same lines although the netbook is slightly more curvy. The model numbers, 1025/1225, state that there will be a 10- and 12-inch model.
It’s unlikely that netbooks will ever be as popular as they were a few years back. Tablets will see to that. But with Intel’s next-gen platform righting many of the netbook’s wrongs, the mini notebooks seem like they’re dying right as they’re getting interesting.