VIA and partners create Global Mobility Bazaar
There’s mobility news out of China today and it’s coming from VIA. The chipmaker has allied with Microsoft, American Megatrends, ITE, SanDisk and others to form a "Global Mobility Bazaar". The stated goal is to help drive mobile computing adoption in emerging markets by developing affordable netbooks and notebooks in the 7- to 15-inch display range.
VIA’s official press release mentions both the older C7-M CPU (used in the HP Mini-note and OQO handheld) as well as the upcoming Nano CPU. That means there’s still some legs in the ol’ C7-M, which makes sense for lower-cost, power efficient units in emerging markets. It’s a safe bet that with Microsoft’s involvement and the older VIA CPU, many of these devices will see Windows XP as well. Hmm… still some legs in that OS too based on this news.
While Intel is a global Goliath, VIA initiatives like this in emerging markets are an opportunity for this David-like company to thrive. In these markets, the goal is to expand computing experiences where there may not be any currently. These aren’t areas that require mega-horsepower computing but instead need exposure to the basics that mobile computing and the web offer. Things like e-mail, surfing and such. A power-efficient VIA device should fit the bill.
Hi Guys,
Tim from VIA here… if it helps people better understand the import of this news, I’d like to mention that VIA agrees with the 20 million netbook & low cost notebooks number thats being bandied around for next year. The so called “White Box market” should be anywhere from 10%-20% of that figure.
VIA will still be participating in the branded netbook market but this segment suits our VIA C7-M/Windows XP combination very well (as evidenced by the HP2133 Mini-Note PC) and we’ll be seeing the first wave of Global Mobility Bazaar products in Dec, and a Second wave of them in March.
Tim
International Marketing Manager
VIA Technologies, Inc.