The PC market is changing rapidly, with notebook prices expected to hit $200 in the near future. Many of these devices will be running Android instead of Windows 8, according to CNET. Dadi Perlmutter, the chief product officer of Intel said that notebooks in the $200 price range will be running mostly Android on Intel’s Atom mobile processor, the same processor that graces many a Netbook.
“We have a good technology that enables a very cost-effective price point,” Perlmutter said. “The price of Windows 8 laptops depends on how Microsoft prices Windows 8. It may be a slightly higher price point.”
Android will provide lower pricing for devices due to the fact that Google does not charge for the use of the Android OS. Pricing of Windows 8 notebooks, however, depends largely on how much Windows charges for Windows 8, which translates to higher pricing for notebooks and tablets which run Microsoft’s OS. With the dip in traditional notebook and PC sales this year, device manufacturers are focusing on bringing new and different devices to the table, such as convertibles/detachables which are essentially tablet/notebook hybrids, that allow the devices to be utilized as a tablet or notebook. Detachables allow the screen to be detached from the keyboard, making the screen a tablet, and convertibles allow the display to be turned around but not detached, allowing the screen to be used much like a tablet, but still attached to the base of the notebook.
As the PC market slows, Intel is focusing on entering the smartphone and tablet market, by developing a mobile chip that will integrate LTE with the application processor which is expected to be released in 2014. The PC market is expected to pick up in 2014 though, as new notebook type devices like convertibles and detachables hit the market. Intel is huge player in the global PC market, and as the PC market slows its foray into mobile devices is tantamount to the company’s survival.
[Via: CNET]