14 DAY TRIAL // ASUS, one of the leading manufacturers of netbook computer systems, is expected to increase the prices of all its existing products, including upcoming notebooks and netbooks, from the company's Eee family. According to recent reports, such measures are expected to become official starting March 1, 2009, leaving users a bit more time to take advantage of the current prices on all ASUS products.
According to a recent news-article on IDG's ARN, Taiwanese manufacturer ASUS is expected to increase the cost of its existing product lineup by as much as 20 percent. The increase in price will also take into consideration any of the company's upcoming products, including Eee PCs or other portable computer systems. According to ASUS, the reasons behind this price increase, slated to become effective on the first day of March, include the current financial climate and the increase in the cost of computer parts.
The hardware component maker also said that it was restructuring its channel strategy, but unfortunately failed to provide any specific details on the matter.
ASUS's Eee PC netbooks are among the products that are most likely to suffer from the reported 20% price increase. That is because these systems are expected to provide consumers with a small price point, when compared to fully-fledged notebook PCs. It will be interesting to see how this increase of prices for ASUS's Eee PC family will affect the company's netbook sales figures, especially since Eee PC netbooks are to compete with a series of similar products released by the manufacturer's competitors.
Despite being one of the most popular systems in its category, the Eee PC netbook hasn't succeeded in reaching the number one spot in the market, according to a recent report by research firm DisplaySearch. The Eee PC grabbed the second spot, following a more successful 8.9-inch Aspire One netbook.