Intel setting Atom prices by screen size????

Intel’s piling the BS high expecting you and me to pay for more than we need. If  the reports are credible, it’s basing the PC  manufacturers wholesale price of Atom chips on the size of the screen in the device that will use it.

…..why is Dell really discontinuing 12-inch netbooks?

Probably a couple of reasons. First, Intel doesn’t like 12-inch netbooks because they are deep into dual core territory, where Intel has much healthier profit margins. For casual users a 12-inch netbook with an Atom chip works just fine, and they are buying these devices instead of more expensive dual core machines. Intel has put pressure on OEMs to build netbooks that have 10 inch or smaller screens.

This includes direct pricing pressure - Intel prices Atom chips based on the size of the device screen. Anything over 10 inches is priced higher than devices with 10 inch or smaller screens. We think this is an inappropriate way to price Atom chips. (Tech Crunch)

I sincerely hope that Via, ARM, MIPS and AMD take advantage of the soft underbelly that Intel has exposed. Consumers want cheap, capable devices. When paired with an efficient OS, these low power chips perform as well as the muticores running Microsoft’s bloatware.