Apple has arguably the best and most popular laptops on the market. Macbook and Macbook Pro are great laptops for folks who want portable computers for business or college student work. But what Apple hasn’t done so far is enter the netbook market. Steve Jobs and other top Apple executives have been clear about what they think of the netbook market. But the iPhone is not a netbook. It’s a great gadget but is not designed to get office work done. Macbook Air is a decent laptop, but that is not a netbook either. It’s way too expensive for that.

Apple has argued in the past that they can’t imagine themselves offering a $500 Mac netbook. It’s easy to see why offering a device that cheap can go against the image that Apple has tried to project in the past. Apple is a premium brand, and there is nothing premium about a $500 laptop. The trouble is, the netbook market is outpacing all other segments of the computer industry. Apple may not want to make a netbook, but at some point they will be forced to reconsider their decision. Let’s face it: An Apple netbook completes the company’s product line. As much as Apple hates to sell cheap laptops, a $500 netbook is anything but cheap in this market. So I expect Apple to enter the netbook market in early 2010 at the latest.

Your take: will we see Apple netbook anytime soon?