Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may be planning a touch-screen netbook computer, according to several sources. Apple, which has had a ho-hum stance on the rapidly-growing netbook market in the past, may be close to deciding that it could indeed enter into the fray and probably take some sales away from the $500 or $600 netbook (and notebook) market.If Apple can attain the margins it needs, there is probably no reason it could not make a very good netbook product even at the high-end price level of $499 or even higher. The iPhone is already a pocket computer more than most other wireless devices, so it's not out of the realm of possibility here for Apple to fill in any gap it thinks exists between the iPhone and MacBook with a new netbook offering.
Rumor has it that the company is already contracting with well-known Taiwanese manufacturers to design screens and determine product assembly specifications. But then again, does it want to possibly take sales away from the iPhone base? Unless Apple sees a markedly different consumer for an Apple netbook than it sees for the standard iPhone consumer, it won't bring a netbook to market. If it does see this difference, all other netbooks makers should watch out.
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