Hasta La Gadget!

Will Apple do a netbook or won’t it? The question has had company watchers buzzing for months even as Apple in the past has shot down suggestions that it may consider offering a netbook of its own.Now, new reports suggest that Apple may be taking netbooks more seriously than it was widely believed.

Apple has placed orders for 10-inch touchscreen in Taiwan and will take delivery of the product in the third quarter, according to a Reuters report. Earlier this week, Taiwanese publication DigiTimes reported that a company called Wintek will supply 10-inch touchscreens to Apple. Taiwan’s contract manufacturing company for notebooks Quanta Computer is also expected to be working with Apple on a new product.

The latest flurry of reports suggest a shift in Apple’s stance towards netbooks. In its quarterly earnings call earlier this year, Apple indicated that the company didn’t think netbooks offered customers a happy experience because of the low-powered CPUs, cramped
keyboards and small displays.

But even Apple can’t ignore the fast growing netbook market. ABI Research forecasts that manufacturers will ship 200 million ultramobile devices, including netbooks, by 2013. And the netbook market will grow at least 100 percent in 2009 despite a weak economy and a slowdown in general PC sales. That’s an opportunity that could prove to be too mouth watering for even Apple to pass on.

Photo: (nikitagubanov/Flickr)