Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) continues to increase its market share of
netbook processors, despite repeated assertions that it has no interest in
netbooks . The company’s processors debuted in the
low cost PCs two weeks ago after the
Acer owned
Gateway released an AMD-based netbook. Another
PC manufacturer,
Medion, has now followed suit, and introduced the Akoya Mini E1312 netbook, powered by a low-power Sempron 210U processor.
AMD had previously maintained it would focus on the
laptop and
notebook PC market, suggesting netbooks were too small, and didn’t offer the full functionality of normal PCs. Whilst the company has maintained this stance, its position has weakened, admitting its low-end processors may be appropriate for netbooks, even though they are designed with larger
PCs in mind. An AMD spokesman also revealed that AMD’s chips could be used into other devices, such as all-in-one PCs.
The Akoya Mini has 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, a M690E chipset with ATI Radeon integrated graphics and an 11.6 inch screen, costing $399. It is a rare breed of netbook not to use the
Intel Atom processor, though experts are saying the Akoya PC could beat Atom powered netbooks for performance.