In the light of recent reports, it seems that the flourishing netbook market isn't as flourishing as everybody initially believed. In fact, ASUS might probably want to reconsider its first estimations regarding the Eee PC, as reports are coming in saying that the company has failed to reach the initial forecasts. On the other hand, competitor Acer is still confident that its product will do better and that the netbook market will be just fine.

As most of you already know, a significant increase in the sales of portable computer systems is expected to become noticeable in the netbook market. Even more, some of the industry's leading manufacturers have estimated that, by the end of 2008, approximately 10 million sub-notebooks will be sold. ASUS' CEO Jerry Shen stated that his company would be responsible for 50% of those shipments, which would make the Eee PC the leading netbook device. Nevertheless, according to some recent media outlets, Jerry Shen might have been just a little too confident in his assertions.

The Taiwanese manufacturer has announced that it shipped 1.7 million Eee PCs in the first half of 2008, which was with 300,000 less than the initial predictions. But, even so, ASUSTek still claims that it will succeed to attain the 5 million target before the end of the year, according to sources inside the company.

ASUS' bout of bad luck is far from scaring off competitor Aspire, which believes that it will register an impressive number of 5 to 7 million sold units in the second half of 2008, according to the company's president, Scott Lin. Lin expects to achieve this target with the help of the Windows-enabled Aspire One, which will sport 120GB of storage space and will be powered by a six-cell battery. With a MSRP of US$522.60, it's rather clear that Acer has set its expectations high with this netbook.

If we are to trust the estimations of both company leaders, it seems that Taiwanese manufacturer MSI no longer has a place in the greater picture. This comes after initial reports said that MSI's Wind PC would be the first real competitor for ASUS' 10-inch Eee PC.