Is ASUS Pulling Back on Eee PC Shipments Due to the iPad?

When ASUS released its first-ever Eee PC, it kicked off a major chain-reaction. The word “netbook” was born, and has since then spun into related terms such as “nettop” and “nettablet”, and as we’re well aware, ASUS was far from being the only company to push these netbooks hard. In fact, there seemed to be more competition out there than we could ever need – to the point that it could almost be considered overwhelming.

Over the past year though, there has been much speculation as to the continued success of the netbook, and according to many, it’s been dead for quite a while. For more confirmation, a recent ASUS investor’s call might be all that’s needed. There, the company stated that it was lowering its shipping expectations for the Eee PC this quarter, which thanks to the new school year, is normally one of the better times of the year for mobile PC manufacturers.

As tech site Electronista points out, though, another reason for the lower number of shipments could be a result of the massive success of Apple’s iPad. To be honest, even I was rather impressed with that device, because I couldn’t wrap my head around why people would want to use a computer like that. Well, joke’s on me, because it’s still selling like hotcakes.

I’m still not so sure that I’d shift the thanks to the iPad, though. Something to take note of is that when netbooks first launched, they were priced far lower than any other notebook – usually at least half. Since then, we’ve seen CULV notebooks launch, which are generally much more capable than a netbook, and for a not much higher price (~$600 – $800). When it comes to paying $400 for a really robust netbook or $700 for an actual notebook (especially for school use), it’s hard to jump on the former route, unless you happen to have the simplest of needs.

Still, I don’t entirely discredit this iPad theory, because again… just look at its success! ASUS itself is preparing to launch a competing product soon, and like netbooks, it sure isn’t going to be alone for long.

Shen remained committed to the Eee PC line but also reassured investors that ASUS would compete with Apple in the tablet space through the Eee Pad line, which will now have Android as well as Windows 7 and Windows Embedded Compact 7 variants. The first of these won’t start shipping until December at the earliest, however, and will give Apple a roughly eight month lead.