Intel Atom Processor Price Increase Adding to Future Netbook Tax?

Anyone who followed my writing on the old MobileAppsToday or MobileDevicesToday blogs knows I’m a huge fan of netbooks. My current netbook is an Asus Eee PC 1000HA running Windows 7 Beta on an Intel Atom N270 processor. So, I was a bit annoyed when I read this news on SlashGear…

Intel Atom N270 price-increase, plus Z550 & Z515 delays?

SlashGear reports that Intel is considering raising the price of the N270 to be about the same as the newer (and better) N280 processor. The rationale is to forestall a possible chip shortage next month. My concern is that this price increase combined with a potential price bump caused by Windows 7 Home Premium’s license price after it is released will significantly increase netbook prices without increasing profits for their manufacturers. This is a lose-lose situation for both hardware vendors and customers since neither benefits from such a price increase.

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