MID, Netbook and Everun Note
Aug 20, 2008 16:25Intel's Atom processor has been having a huge impact on Korea's mini-notebook market these days. ASUS Eee Pc and MSI Wind have since hitting the markets been selling thousands of Netbooks a day. At this moment, local company Raon Digital has launched its third generation called Everun Note, based on an AMD processor. Most of the PC, MID and UMPC makers usually use Intel or VIA chipsets for their mini-notebooks rather than AMD chipsets. (Since the Geode chipset belongs to RMI and is used more on PMPs).
HP released its mini-notebook with VIA chipset and ASUS, MSI launched its Netbook with Atom chipsets, and many upcoming MIDs will be out with Atom, too.
Unfortunately, customers cannot expect those Netbooks or mini-notebooks to perform like your desktop PC or high-end laptop. This is since these devices target customers who like to have laptops at a lower cost and don't mind basic performance (like Web surfing, Word, Outlook, etc.) They are not expecting to play 3D high-performance PC games and video decoding, etc., from a Netbook. Low cost will be the main reason to hit the market like this in Korea. These Netbooks cost around U$500 to U$600, and customers are only to happy to have these as their second PC.
Raon's Everun Note changed this kind of customer expectation. It likes to present its mini-notebook as a primary PC and not as a secondary PC. It took AMD's Turion 64 x2 dual-core 1.2GHz as a main chipset and ATI RS690E for its graphics card.
Everun Note is the world's first mini-notebook equipped with dual core. So it's saying this will perform over your expectations. It released its first UMPC, the Vega, in 2006, and the Everun in 2007. I heard that sales weren't too good with those early versions, but I assume this Everun Note can do a way better job since this 7-inch mini-notebook has great potential compared with market competitors right now. A few things I miss on this Everun Note: The LCD doesn't swivel like a tablet PC, the battery life (about 2 hours) isn't long enough for toting around on the road. Raon is also selling an external battery pack to extend the mini-notebook's usage and for portable users. But it means I have to hold one hand to my notebook and the other hand to the external battery. What the?!
Left adapter belongs to Everun Note.
Also, its AC adapter size which I found on the Web site is huge in comparison with the notebook's portable form factor.
The ideal price for the Everun Note is U$800 in Korea and it's a tough price tag compared with other netbooks (U$500 or more) and sub-laptops (U$900 or more).
Let's see how Raon creates the market for its Everun Note since Samsung, LG and TG local giant PC makers will join the Netbook market by end 2008. Korea's 2008 PC market trend is on mini-notebooks.
* Product marketing file available with this link.
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About Kevin (Kilmo) Kang
Kevin (Kilmo) Kang is a self-professed IT-savvy guy who's been having the time of his life making tech deals with new business partners in the Asia-Pacific areas. Like every Korean, he's gadget-crazy and is glad he lives in a country with one of the fastest-growing tech markets in the world. His taste for international work, however, arose from a nine-year stay in New Zealand where he fortunately made more friends than there are sheep.
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