Those tiny-screened, under-powered netbooks were supposed to be the next big thing in personal computing. But the short-lived era of slightly shrunken laptops seems to be over, with Taiwan’s Asus (LSE:ASKD; TPE:2357) having stopped production of its range of netbooks on January 1st, 2013. The generic use of the term “netbook” started in 2007 when Asus unveiled the cutesy little Eee PC (pictured) with a mere 7-inch screen.
Now replaced by much greater usage of iPads and various tablets, the Guardian notes wryly that ABI Research said (back in 2009) that netbook sales would hit 139 million in 2013. That now seems highly unlikely.
(Source: Guardian)
