Asus planning bargain basement £130 Eee PC for early next year

While Asus didn't invent the concept of taking a laptop and making it small and cheap, it definitely kicked something off last year when it introduced the Eee PC. So you can understand it being a bit miffed at the twenty million other companies that are flooding the market with similar machines.

Higher or lower? You don't get anything for a pair

Asus has already taken the Eee PC into the high end territory with the gorgeous looking £449 S101. Now it's looking to sew up the other end of the market with a sub $200 model – which is around £130 at current exchange rates.

It had originally planned to break the magic $200 price barrier with the original Eee PC last year but its first model – the Surf – actually came in at a slightly more expensive $240. Even with just a 7in screen, Celeron M processor and Linux OS, it wasn't enough to bring it in under two hundred bucks.

A year in abundance

Twelve months is a long time in tech, but when you've got so many competitors in the market it drives down prices in double quick time. As a result Asus has plenty of choice now when it comes to cheap components so making a sub-$200 machine a reality should prove less of a challenge.

Availability

Asus will only go so far as to confirm that a super cheap machine is definitely coming in the first quarter of 2009, but is keeping schtum on exact specs and availability. We wouldn't be too surprised if one was spotted at the CES show in Las Vegas come January, though.

(via Macworld UK)