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WARNING: Sarcasm Alert!

Are you tired of having an old plastic netbook? Are you tired of having those flimsy plastic chassi break down on you just when you need them the most? Well worry not! Now you can get a Core Grid Vigood U220!

As a netbook it’s fully functional, and its capabilities include a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1 GB of RAM, 250 GB hard drive, and a 10.2 inch display. Not enough you say? Well I’m not done just yet! It also has 802.11 b/g WiFi, a 1.3 MP webcam, 3 USB ports, VGA output, and a flash card reader!

BUT WAIT! I haven’t even gotten to the best part! That flimsy plastic chassis you hate? Well it’s all gone now. Instead, Vigood made it out of solid metal! You heard me, METAL! It’s not just a netbook, it can double as bookend! A table weight! A door stop! Use it however you would a normal metal block! That’s right, Vigood isn’t just giving you a netbook, it’s also giving you a metal block replacement! They’re saving you all that trouble of getting one for yourself! Vigood U220 going now for $350! Order now!

Note: Vigood is a brand that is relatively unknown outside of China, so we’re not just making this stuff up. Nor is the Core Grid Vigood U220 the only netbook with a metal chassis.

Via Liliputing.

Global CPU shipments have reached a record high of a 23% increase in Q3 of 2009, and this is largely a result of an increase in demand for netbooks.

While unit sales increased 23%, revenues only increased 14%, due to the low unit price of netbooks. According to Shane Rau, the director of semiconductor and personal computing research at IDC, “since PC processor shipments overall just slightly exceeded shipments in Q3 of 2008 – which was itself a record quarter at the time – we know the processor market is recovering.”

While this currently seems to be a good situation for netbook and chip manufacturers, we still have to be on the lookout. Rau pointed out that a lot of Intel Atom processors are being sold into markets like China, which offer government incentives. “The Chinese market can be very opaque – there are lots of places where inventories can hide. We have to be on the lookout for when China decides it can’t consume more processors. Meanwhile, the U.S. market is still hamstrung by housing foreclosures and rising job losses.”

Via PCMag.

Image via Crunchgear.

Transparent editions of thin-and-light netbooks, who would’ve thought? Sony had a press release event in China recently, where it debuted the transparent edition of the Sony Vaio X netbook. It might or might not be released for public consumption, but it’s cool nonetheless and we wanted to show it to you.

Even if the netbook did go on sale, its price tag would probably be somewhere near the $1,300 range. Would you personally be willing to shell out that kind of money for one of these superthins? Here’s a picture to provide some food for thought.

Via Engadget.

Dublin research firm Research and Markets has recently announced an addition to their recent report, “China’s Netbook Market: Not as Big as It Looks”, which claimed, well, that the Chinese netbook market may be smaller than initially assumed.

The additional feature focuses on the disjoint many PC and CE vendors find between high profit margins and intense competition in the sector, making Chinese netbook markets tantalizing but impenetrable.

Furthermore, In-Stat interviewed a number of industry specialists – “operators, netbook vendors, chipset vendors, OEM vendors, and national agencies” – and organized a status report of the Chinese netbook market based on their findings. Furthermore, they discuss the influence of 3G services on the bustling market, breaking down the netbook value chain to see who’s a key player and who’s not.

Their conclusions remained skeptical, as noted by a quote by In-Stat analyst Ashley Liu:

“Future market trends for netbooks in China remain unclear… The result may be that the netbook ends up being a transitional product.”

If you’re interested in the report, more info can be found at ResearchandMarkets.com.

Asustek hasn’t seen as much star-studded success in the netbook market as competitors like HP and Acer, despite the fact that it delivers a wide variety of reliable machines to the industry. Its Eee PC 1008HA Seashell netbook even won an EISA award just days ago. However, declines in revenue and profit margins have been ushered in by an iffy economy and increased competition in North American and European markets, inspiring ASUS to fight the good fight in China more than ever before.

Chief executive Jerry Shen assured investors on Tuesday that ASUS had a plan to grow:

“We’re seeing a lot of growth momentum from China, and expect to grow our market share there for the rest of the year… Eastern Europe is also growing quite well, so things should improve from now on.”

A massive influx of new netbooks from no-names and franchisers haven’t helped the picture for Asustek, but if the Taiwanese company puts its eggs into Chinese baskets this year then perhaps it can regain its former glory.

Via WashingtonPost.

Image via MobileTopSoft.

We’ve seen some pretty clever Hackintosh netbooks before, but now a Chinese PC maker is actually mass-producing 8.9-inch netbooks with an Apple logo on the lid.

However, the chances of Apple being connected to the machine are just about absolutely zero. It runs an ARM CPU and either Windows CE or Linux as an OS, and sells for around $200. It’s got a Windows key on the keyboard, as well as a tiny right-Shift by the up arrow.

The netbook could get up to 7 hours of battery life through the 3-cell battery, as ARM machines run on low power.

The new netbook is yet another comical reminder of Apple’s frustrating refusal to join the netbook market. Come on Steve, we know you’re just holding out on us to keep the suspense going!

Via Shanzai.

Vivante Corporation announced that it will be partnering with the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences with plans to integrate their GPU and CPU designs into a “cost-efficient, low-power SoC and advance the state-of-the-art in netbook technology for the next generation.” China has been a valuable space for netbooks thus far, and this relationship could be a harbinger of better things to come.

The ICT’s specialty is research in computer science and technology. The group was responsible for “China’s first general-purchase digital computer” and generally focuses on boosting the performance of low-power computers. That sounds like it would be helpful in the netbook industry.

Dr. Weiwu Hu, the chief architect of the ICT’s CPU division, elaborated on the goal of the partnership:

“As we look toward making netbooks both more capable and more accessible, we find Vivante GPUs to be the perfect solution for small size and low power while providing robust, fully featured graphics and fast performance.”

Wei-jin Dai, Vivante’s President and CEO, added to Hu’s explanation:

“Our ability to deliver the highest performing GPU per square millimeter and per milliwatt across the spectrum of mobile computing, handheld, and home entertainment device requirements is once again validated by ICT selecting a Vivante GPU design. The Vivante ScalarMorphic(TM) GPU architecture flexes and scales to address a wide range of price/performance requirements and silicon budgets. We look forward to ongoing collaboration with ICT, as we apply leading edge Vivante technology to power next generation wired and wireless embedded applications in new and interesting ways.”

This is an exciting time for netbooks, and it is with great interest that we anticipate the products of this relationship. China Mobile’s partnership with major netbook manufacturers has already yielded much for netbook 3G, and hopefully Vivante and the ICT can do the same with netbook GPUs.

Via PRNewsWire.

Q1 2009 was a rough time for the Chinese netbook market. Seven-inch and 8.9-inch netbooks, which were responsible for early booms in the industry, inexplicably showed plummeting sales in China. An 11.8% drop in netbook shipments brought figures to a mere 4.61 million units, though year-over-year the industry grew. Why?

MIC Industry Analyst Ya Wei Ku thinks the answer has to do with a point of much contention in the netbook industry – screen size.

“In the fourth quarter of 2008, 8.9-inch models were still the mainstream in netbook PC shipment. In the first quarter of 2009, however, 10-inch models quickly became the market leaders.”

The trend has already been seen with brands like ASUS, which dropped its 7-inch Eee PC in favor of the 10-inch version, and Acer which has recently focused on 11.6-inch netbooks. MIC says 8.9-inch netbook production will be miniscule in the coming months; 70 percent of the Chinese market was accounted for by 10-inch netbooks first quarter.

What else is new for Chinese netbook markets? Ku says that, while Europe was a major market for Chinese manufacturers in 2008, economic crisis has shifted China’s focus to North America.

“However, Western Europe has been heavily affected by the global financial crisis, and starting at the end of 2008 market demand became weak… In North America, major operators AT&T and Verizon started to promote bundled sales of mobile broadband and netbook PCs, while the North American retail market did not decline as much as was originally forecasted. As a result, the industry’s shipment share for North America increased slightly.”

Netbook sales are still growing in China, where responses were initially lukewarm. It’s likely that an upcoming rural home appliance subsidy program could stimulate the market further, and the distribution of 3G licenses could help as well.

Via TGDaily.

China Mobile’s recent partnership with 6 netbook manufacturers has already yielded results. Dell and the China Mobile Communications Corporation (CMCC) just announced that the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook is now available with the CMCC’s integrated 3G wireless internet.

Adding 3G will make the new netbook a more mobile device, increasing its potential for mobile entertainment along with its 720p screen.

Starting at RMB 3880 (around $495), the new Dell netbook features a 92%-of-full-size keyboard, multitouch capability in the touchpad, an edge-to-edge 16:9 LED display, and dell’s High-Definition Multimedia Interface for “entertainment connectivity.”

This latest development in the story of Chinese netbooks has clear ramifications for the rest of us, so be sure to read our previous articles on the matter for more info.

Via WWPI.

Intel’s recent push to enter the Chinese netbook market is looking like it’s inspiring more partnerships, but this time they’re coming from overseas.

China Mobile Ltd., a NY-listed telecom operator, announced yesterday that it’s going to team up with some PC manufacturers to make TD-SCDMA-enabled 3G netbooks. The manufacturers listed were Lenovo, Founder Technology, Tsinghua Tongfang, Haier Group, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell.

Aside from mobile broadband, nobody seems to know what other specs to anticipate from the partnership’s products. Lenovo, HP, and Dell are all already huge players in the netbook industry, and if they join forces with China Mobile the results could be spectacular.

Aside from that we’re all somewhat in the dark as to the group’s intentions, but it will be exciting to see what new netbooks are delivered along the way.

Via TradingMarkets.