The popularity of netbook systems continues to grow as new technologies will enable vendors to further diversify their designs and provide customers with a few more options when choosing a new, low-power, ultraportable, Internet-capable device. We have already seen a number of companies joining the race for a better netbook design, including Nokia, the industry's leading phone maker. It now appears that HTC might also be entering the market with a design of its own, according to recent reports.

During an interview at the HD2 launch, earlier this week, the company's CEO, Mr. Peter Chou, confirmed that the outfit was still pretty much interested in the segment, but was looking into how it could participate at that moment without becoming just another netbook player. Peter Chou said that his company was “carefully looking into that category and how it can be part of that.” Basically, HTC is looking to build a product that will stand apart from the majority, especially since most netbook players have launched products that are based on the same Intel Atom platform.

While ASUS is the pioneer of the segment, companies such as Dell, HP, Acer and others have a significant market share, which is why HTC will have some tough competition. However, HTC isn't new to the segment of ultraportable computing products, as the company previously released the HTC Shift, a portable computing solution that was Windows Vista-capable and that came in a very lightweight 800g form.

Whether HTC's efforts will end up improving the netbook segment is yet to be determined, as the company still needs to come up with a product to fit the category. However, what we can clearly state is that a bit more competition can ultimately only benefit consumers, who will be faced with more choices and, likely, overall a better product.