Sony has revealed it is to enter the
netbook PC market with a slimmed down version of its Vaio laptop. The netbook will be sold in Japan for around 60,000 yen, equating to just over £400. The announcement means that all major PC manufacturers have now entered the netbook market, which has swelled in popularity in the past two years as consumers opt for a smaller and cheaper option on which they can surf the
internet and access email.
The mini
notebook PC will come equipped with an
Intel Atom processor, as well as
Microsoft Windows XP. Whereas most
netbooks have a 1,024x600 pixel display, Sony’s high end netbook will boast a sharper 1,366x768 resolution.
Sony revealed it hopes to boost overall Vaio PC sales to 6.2 million units for the year to March 2010, an increase of 400,000 on the previous year. That figure includes
laptops and netbooks, and looks very achievable in light of a forecast from IDC. The research company have predicted that global netbook PC shipments will more than double in 2009 to 26.4 million units, helping to drive up sales figures at PC manufacturers.