Acer's 10.1-inch Aspire to replace 8.9-inch netbook
updated 03:45 pm EST, Thu January 22, 2009
Acer to replace Aspire
Computer and peripherals maker Acer is reportedly thinking of stopping shipments of its 8.9-inch Aspire netbook to make room for the soon-to-be-released 10.1-inch Aspire One 103 model. The 103 is due out in February, and while the timing of the 8.9-inch netbook's phase-out was not definitively announced, it is due to happen sometime in the second quarter of the year.
Unnamed sources in the notebook industry have also indicated that Quanta Computer, the current builder of the 8.9-inch Aspire, would be most affected by the switchover, as the manufacturing of the new consumer netbook is being outsourced to Compal Electronics. In compensation, however, Quanta will get to build enterprise versions of the 10.1-inch Aspire in addition to 8.9-inch enterprise Aspires.
The 10.1-inch Aspire One 103 is due to cost $399 when it arrives, while the 8.9-inch Aspire One was originally priced at $379 before being discounted to $329 last year. Both are powered by Intel's 1.6GHz Atom CPU.
