San Francisco: One more of the world's biggest technology companies is clamoring to enter the growing market for pint-sized computers targeted mainly for pint-sized customers.
Hewlett-Packard Co, the number one seller of personal computers worldwide, said today it's throwing its weight behind a new class of miniaturised laptops, a fledgling market already populated with products from Intel Corp, the world's largest semiconductor company, and Asustek Computers Inc, the world's largest maker of computer motherboards.
The machines are so new the industry has not settled on a name for low-cost and scaled-down laptops used primarily for surfing the Internet and performing other basic functions like word processing.
Intel has labeled them "netbooks," and it expects more than 50 million netbooks to be in circulation by 2011.
HP executives say their new machines, which go on sale later this month, are an important piece of the Palo Alto-based company's effort to build market share in schools, where machines had to be smaller and cheaper without losing too many functions.
The companies also expect adults to cotton to the idea of buying two laptops, a lightweight one just for web browsing on the go and the full-power machine for the home or office.
But industry executives acknowledge that the market is untested and that no one knows what demand will be once the machines are deployed widely.
HP's foray comes in the form of a new computer called a "Mini-Note" that weighs less than 1.4 kilograms with a screen that measures 22.6 centimeters diagonally.
The machines start at under USD 500 for a Linux-based model. Prices go up for Windows Vista models with faster processors.
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