Products
Viewsonic will be launching new product thick and fast in the second half of this year. "The VNB 100 netbook is in the channel now and the slightly thinner Atom N280 VNB101 will arrive in August, as will the VOT120 nettop," said Allenby. "We launched the VPC100 all-in-one in May and this will be joined by a touch-screen version, the VPC101, in September."
VPC100
Allenby thinks being a display manufacturer gives Viewsonic some other advantages. "We can see what people are ordering as an indication of demand," he said. "Touch-screens with hard glass are big in the education market right now."
VOT120
The fact remains, however, that Viewsonic is launching products that are pretty much the same as the Atom-based netbooks, nettops and all-in-ones that have been in the market for some time and made by much bigger OEMs. "The VNB100 is our first netbook and has a very similar spec to many others, but the offering will evolve and become more distinctly Viewsonic in time," said Allenby.
VNB101
Precisely what that will entail, and whether that will be enough to enable Viewsonic to succeed in this ultra-competitive market, however, remains to be seen.
