Will Apple Stay Away From Netbooks?

WWDC was supposed to be the event in which Apple disclosed its plans for its tablet or netbook. But we didn’t get either. What we did get was new cool Macbooks and somewhat aggressive pricing on the new models. Top level folks at Apple have never shied away from dismissing the netbook market as a whole. But a lot of experts believed that Apple was secretly planning a super netbook to be released later this year. So far we haven’t heard too much from Apple at WWDC about its plans for a future netbook, but it seems the company is still not too hot on the whole netbook market.

I have to say I somewhat agree with Steve Jobs’ assessment. Can you imagine Apple selling a $500 netbook? Apple is a premium brand which means it can’t afford to release a product that does not offer premium features to its customers. An Apple netbook that does fit Apple’s DNA will cost close to $1000. That’s not what you can call an affordable netbook.

Apple may not see a need for producing a netbook, but it certainly does need a gadget that appeals to mobile users but is more capable than the iPhone. The answer could be the MediaPad (a large screen iPod Touch). It could be a hybrid device. Whichever the case, you can bet Apple will have an easier time charging a premium for it by staying away from the “netbook” tag.

One Response to “Will Apple Stay Away From Netbooks?”

1. a.cantos says:

   June 10, 2009 at 6:41 am

   yeah, they must already have the device that looks and functions as a netbook does but they don’t want to call it a netbook because it should be affordable. call it another name and they could charge more for it.