The New Battleground: Ultra-thin Notebook Computers

by , 3:20 PM EDT, June 23rd, 2008

Apple's MacBook Air proved that there's a market for sleek, thin notebook computers designed for travel. The PC makers, mired in debilitating commodity prices for ever less expensive notebooks have noticed and are jumping in, according to Forbes on Monday.

The latest example is Toshiba's 2.4 pound (1.1 kg) Portege R500-S5007V, but unlike the Apple MacBook Air, it also includes an optical drive and a 128 GB SSD. In developing the computer, Toshiba has also leaned from Apple: some people will pay a lot for convenience, and that convenience totals a hefty US$2,999.

While another class of small notebooks, loaded with Windows XP or Linux, and costing about US$500 is also catching attention in some circles, the PC makers have realized that there's a market for premium priced computers that can offset microscopic margins on a $500 notebook.

Both Hewlett-Packard and Dell have jumped into the game. HP has the Voodoo Envy 133 that tries to compete with Apple's "cake slicing" thinness. Dell has the new M1330 which also includes an optical drive.

It's not unexpected for Apple's rivals to pick up on markets that Apple has carved out, but the explicit inclusion of the optical drives suggests these companies are hearing something from their customers that Apple does not. That is, if Apple is listening.