HP and Dell to reduce investment for 10-inch netbook, say sources Tweet

Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Dell have both significantly reduced their investments in the 10-inch netbook segment, with HP reportedly even considering quitting the 10-inch netbook market and turning its focus to AMD-based 11.6-inch notebooks because profits from Intel Pine Trail-based netbooks have been lower than expected, according to sources from notebook makers.

Most of the second-tier and white-box netbook vendors have already quit the market after first-tier players started cutting their netbook prices in the second half of 2009 to compete for market share.

But Acer, Asustek Computer and Samsung Electronics remain active in the netbook market, with netbooks accounting for large portions of their overall notebook shipments, the sources said.

The chilling of the netbook market is expected to affect vendors' willingness to launch smartbook products, the sources commented.

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