Mac Rumors and others are reporting that a Chinese manufacturer is building “touch panels” for a rumored Apple netbook.
I don’t think that the information is outright wrong, but I think it may be for something entirely different from the netbooks we’ve seen up to this point.
Netbooks are small, underpowered notebooks that are affordable. Many place $500 as the ceiling.
I don’t see Apple moving into that market. They’ve said over and over that they won’t be moving into that market.
It just doesn’t make sense for Apple to do that. Sure, they’d sell a bunch of them. And it would take the brand, the image of Apple places Apple executives don’t want it to be. Apple is okay with being the high-end company. In fact, this Steve Jobs quote sums this up nicely:
Apple’s market share is bigger than BMW’s or Mercedes’s or Porsche’s in the automotive market. What’s wrong with being BMW or Mercedes?
Brilliant, and to my point: a cheap, underpowered netbook doesn’t fit with who Apple is. They not only ignore the low-end market; they despise it.
So if the rumors of the “touch panels” are true, what are they for?
A touch-based netbook would be expensive, blowing past the $500 ceiling. There’s no way Apple could get the price down under that. I mean, the iPhone sold for $499 and $599 when the first came out in 2007 for crying out loud. Many people have predicted Apple releasing a larger iPod-Touch-like device that would run either the iPhone OS or some hybrid of that and the Mac OS (and with the App Store doing so well, they would be simply entering another device into that realm - and not have to worry developers with yet a 3rd platform).
I see this being far more likely - and it explains those “touch panels.” It would look like an iPod Touch, ignoring the ever-present problems of cramped keyboards and trackpads that plague most netbooks.
This device could sell for more than $500, but less than the low-end $999 MacBook - which would be fine, if they position this device outside of the netbook realm*, squashing the people would would complain about Apple’s “premium” pricetag.
Whatever Apple has up its sleeve isn’t a netbook. Time will tell, as it always does.
*If Apple does ever release a notebook smaller than 13-inches, look for something like the 12-inch PowerBook G4: a machine that is not under-powered, is pricey, and is called a “subnotebook” by Apple.
Update: Ars Technica’s Jacqui Cheng speaks out about this situation as well.