The last few months have been fraught with rumors about whether or not Apple will be jumping on the bandwagon and offering a netbook along with world+dog. While said rumors have died down as of late, expect a fresh round with a report that Apple could be releasing a netbook in Q3 of this year.
Netbook gossip peaked in the months following Apple’s update to its notebook line in October. Despite the fact that the company didn’t announce a netbook at the event (the closest the company has come in terms of pricing was to offer the white MacBook for $999), people still debated the possibility that the Cupertino company would offer a MacBook Nano.
Around the same time that a bunch of dodgy pictures of an iPhone Nano were doing the rounds, Chief Operating Officer at Apple, Tim Cook, reiterated the company’s stance on netbooks as well as a stripped down, smaller iPhone. Cook stressed during the company’s earnings call that Apple won't produce low-end phones and that it doesn't want to be the market leader when it comes to the number of units sold. Apple wants to make the best phone possible, period. This, coupled with Steve Jobs’ reaction to the same question (“We don’t know how to build a sub-$500 computer that is not a piece of junk,”) did a pretty good job of squashing the rumors.
DigiTimes today reports (citing a Chinese-language Commercial Times report) that Taiwan-based Wintek will supply touch screens for a new Apple netbook which is to be manufactured by Quanta computer. The Commercial Times says shipments will start in the third quarter this year.
That aside, there's not much else to go on. What does everyone think? We’re taking the sizable grain of salt approach, as per usual. Check out the full report on DigiTimes.