ASUS is undoubtedly paying a lot of attention to its lineup of Eee PC ultraportable computer systems, especially since they are known to have boosted the company's profits. Quite understandably, it is precisely because of this that the Taiwanese manufacturer is planning to further expand its Eee PC family in 2009, with a couple of new models that will bring diversity to an already overcrowded market. The new models are expected to help drive sales even further, according to Samson Hu, general manager of Eee PC business at ASUSTek.

 

The details of the upcoming Eee PCs are rather scarce at this point, but it seems that the company is planning to launch a touch panel model in the first quarter of 2009. Although not letting out any specific technical information of the new touch panel-enabled Eee PC, Hu noted that the company expected to showcase it during CES 2009, which will be held on January 8-11 in Las Vegas.

 

In addition to the new touchscreen Eee PC model, ASUS is also planning to release a dual-core Atom-powered version of its Eee PC, as soon as leading chip maker Intel begins shipping the CPUs. Unfortunately, there's no specific time reference for when this is likely to happen, but chances are this will become an interesting product, as it will most likely deliver an enhanced performance, compared with other netbooks currently available on the market.

 

Furthermore, the company's CEO, Jerry Shen, revealed that ASUS was planning a new Eee PC model that would bring netbooks closer to their initial purpose, that of being highly portable, lightweight and, more importantly, low-priced computer systems. This Eee PC is also expected to make its debut next year, and will be priced at less than US$307.

 

All these details on ASUS' upcoming Eee PC systems come to emphasize the fact that the Taiwanese manufacturer is planning to consolidate its position on this segment of the market with the launch of even more netbooks.