Panasonic rules out netbook
ToughBook manufacturer will not be jumping on the netbook bandwagon, insisting it has no plans to produce a budget business machine.
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Panasonic has revealed that it is happy to leave the netbook market to others, saying that it will not be producing its own take on the popular computer form factor.
The question was raised during a press tour of Panasonics's Kobe manufacturing facility, following the global launch of its new ToughBooks in Japan.
"Many people have asked us the same question," Toshi Harada of Panasonic's Kobe factory told a press gathering in Japan when asked if it was considering refitting it's small lightweight 'R'-Series machines with Intel's Atom processor.
Harada explained the company's reticence over producing a netbook. "We're focused on corporate rather than consumer needs, and performance is too low to work with office documents or other applications."
Concerning the size of the display, Harada added: "The key pitch (the distance between the keys) is only 15.5mm, which is too difficult to use compared to the 17mm on regular notebooks."
While the first netbook, the Eee PC, was released by consumer brand Asus, more business-orientated companies such as Dell, HP and Lenovo have released their own take on the netbook format.
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Benny Har-Even is a twenty-year stalwart of technology journalism who is passionate about all areas of the industry, but telecoms and mobile and home entertainment are among his chief interests. He has written for many of the leading tech publications in the UK, such as PC Pro and Wired, and previously held the position of technology editor at ITPro before regularly contributing as a freelancer.
Known affectionately as a ‘geek’ to his friends, his passion has seen him land opportunities to speak about technology on BBC television broadcasts, as well as a number of speaking engagements at industry events.
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