Digital Trends

New miniature notebooks with 8- and 9-inch screens will compete directly with the Asus EEE, and even share some of the same components.

The early success of Asus’ EEE PC appears to have spawned yet another competitor, this time from Taiwanese manufacturer Acer.  According to the Chinese paper Commercial Times, Acer is preparing a direct competitor to the EEE for the first or second quarter of this year.

While details on the new model were somewhat sparse, the notebooks will come with both 8 and 9 inch screens, which will be produced by AU Optronics, another Taiwanese company. Oddly enough, this is the same company supply to screens to Asus, so Acer’s equivalent will share some blood with its main competitor. Prices on the new models are actually predicted to be below existing EEE models.

The Commercial Times parent company, China Times, may be earning quite a reputation for breaking news of these EEE clones early thanks to access to parts suppliers. Earlier in January, the paper correctly predicted the production of Asus’ 8.9-inch EEE, which has yet to be released but has been confirmed with pictures.