How Does a $99 Mini-Note Sound to You?
By Chris Connery and John Jacobs
For all the hype around mini-notes (or netbooks as Intel would prefer to have them called), much of the demand seems to be coming from regions outside the US. Many US retailers have been quite bearish on the market, not because they don’t necessarily believe in the idea of a low priced, smaller, notebook/internet device, but based upon the more practical fact that the total cost of the mini-note went beyond the initial sticker price.
Mini-notes, almost by definition, are de-featured notebooks, both in size as well as in functionality. One of their main application strengths being portable web availability with a full QWERTY keyboard and constant access to your data. The rub for many marketers in the US came with the portable web availability, which required a subscription to a cellular carrier’s plan in order to be able to access the internet wirelessly away from a WiFi hub. The least expensive cellular plans are typically $60 per month in the US. So, your $299 mini-note purchase is now closer to $399 and locking you into a longer-term contract. By contrast, data plans in Europe and Asia are as little as half the price of those in the US. Further, recent polls show that American consumers are less than satisfied with their wireless providers, and wireless carriers have such low confidence in the capacity of their networks that they are asking their customers to limit their calling, text messaging and sending of photos during the presidential inauguration.
Additionally, notebook PC brands that we have spoken with have confirmed that their customers did not want embedded 3G antennas in their larger notebook PCs, because they did not want to be locked into a carrier.
Recently, there have been two tests of the theory of how an even lower priced mini-note might do in the US market. In early December, Acer, AT&T and Radio Shack joined forces to offer an 8.9″ Acer Aspire One with an integrated 3G antenna for $99, with a two-year data plan. Radio Shack has continued the promotion in January.
