The $200 EeePC is Coming

With the netbook market getting more crowded, Asus is planning a little competitive in 2009 in an effort to gain market share.

According to the company’s president, Jerry Shen, the new pricing comes to light based on Asus’ financial position and expected forecasts. Asustek announced revenues of US$2.39 billion for the third quarter this year, while net profit after taxing was US$193 million, an increase of 13 percent on quart, but a drop of 14.2 percent for the entire year.

Asus shipped nearly 11 million of its own-brand motherboards in the first half of this year, nearly six million in the third quarter alone – however, it expects shipments in the last quarter top drop by at least 10 percent to 5.4 million units. The company set a goal of 5 million units for 2008, and they are more than likely going to surpass it – not by a huge margin, but they are expected to beat it.

According to reports from Jonney Shih, Chairman at Asus, the company has forecasted an internal shipment goal for 2009 of 20 million notebooks and netbooks. It appears Asustek feels the market demand for 2009 is quite uncertain and it might have difficulty meeting these expectations. For the record, this internal goal is not a finalized figure.

Shen is expecting annual notebook shipments to grow in 2009, and be higher than the industry’s 10-20 percent, while motherboard shipments will be less than 10 percent. Asus aims to grab a 30 percent share in the notebook market for 2009 and so is planning to offer Eee PCs price at US$200.

Shen also claimed that 7 and 8.9-inch Eee PCs will be phased out in favor of 10-inch products.