ASUS Confirm Dual-Core Atom Eee PCs This Year, Bigger SSD & HDD

After a leaked ASUS slide confirmed the Eee range would reach 23 different units, company president Jerry Shen has spoken about some of the upcoming models and the segments he expects the Eee PC to occupy.  According to Shen, two new categories – Ultimate and Pro Fashion – will launch this year, each with dual-core Atom processors and increased storage.  A choice of 120GB HDD or 32GB SSD was suggested.

In late September, the Eee PC S-series is expected to launch with a 10.1-inch 16:9 aspect display with LED backlighting, 4-5hrs battery life and 32GB SSD storage.  ASUS will be targeting the netbook at the "high-end" of the netbook market, with an estimated $700-900 tag.

Intel's dual-core Atom 330 processor has been delayed until Q4 2008, but Shen is confident that supplies of the single-core Atom N270 CPU will remain consistent through to late Q2 2009.   Total Eee PC shipments, according to ASUS' predictions, will exceed 1.5-1.6 million units in Q3 2008, and Shen says the company is confident it will achieve its targeted annual shipments of five million units.