14 DAY TRIAL // Following reports on the Internet that surfaced this weekend, Round Rock, Texas-based PC vendor Dell has officially confirmed that it will no longer be producing its Atom-powered Inspiron Mini 12, the company's only 12-inch netbook. According to Dell, the reason behind the decision is that customers are more likely to be interested in 10-inch netbooks than in larger and less portable 12-inch systems. The company stated that it would now focus on the 10-inch form factor and would continue to provide its customers with the two 10-inch Inspiron netbooks and the Latitude 2100 models it had in its current portfolio.
In a recent post on the company's community blog pages, Dell's Lionel Menchaca stated, “So, should you read anything into this as far as Dell’s commitment to the netbook space? Nope. It really boils down to this: for a lot of customers, 10-inch displays are the sweet spot for netbooks. That’s why we offer two different 10-inch Inspiron netbooks for Mini 10 and the Mini 10v. And on the Latitude side, the Latitude 2100 netbook is finding a home in schools all over the place. Portability is one of the key points for netbook customers. Larger notebooks require a little more horsepower to be really useful. More to come from Dell on that later.”
Both the Inspiron Mini 10 and the Inspiron Mini 12 have been designed to take advantage of the low-power specifications of Intel's Atom processors. The larger, 12-inch model could provide users with a better viewing experience, while the former could be a choice for those looking for an ultraportable PC.
There are some questions regarding Dell's decision, as the PC vendor could have been guided by Intel's pricing policy for the Atom processors, which is related to the form factor of the device that will be powered by said Atom processor. For netbooks with displays larger than 10-inches, Intel is charging PC vendors more for the same Atom processor.