Intel sees big growth for cheap laptops

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The market for low-cost laptops - including Asus' popular Eee PC - and their desktop equivalents is set to see explosive growth, according to Intel.

The chip giant is anticipating sales of around 47m of the units from various manufactures between 2008 and 2011, but topping 100m if you count handheld internet devices which the company is taking a renewed interest in following the release of its Atom platform.

Unsurprisingly, Asus is expecting to profit significantly from this boom in interest, with president Jerry Shen predicting shipments of 10m in 2008, and 20 million in 2009. Not bad considering it was originally envisioned as a niche laptop for children and education.

The low-cost laptop market is one that nearly every major manufacturer has now expressed an interest in, with Intel gearing up to launch its Classmate 2 on European shores, Asus readying the next generation of Eee PC, HP unveiling the Mini-Note and even Dell reportedly scouting out the terrain.

Intriguingly, back in February, Sony predicted the market would be in serious trouble if the Eee took off, claiming "If (the Eee PC from) Asus starts to do well, we are all in trouble. That's just a race to the bottom."

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