2012-12-21-283

64-bit Notebooks Mainstream Within 2 Years

Notebook computers with 64-bit processors could becomemainstream within one or two years, ushering the industry into a new era andheralding a new battle among leading notebook vendors. Such a scenario couldhappen as prices of 64-bit notebooks drop to as low as US$ 1,500 per unit in thefuture. Acer kicked off the battle after deciding to use Athlon 64 3000+ and3200+ processors for its Aspire 1500 notebooks. eMachines, which recently agreedto merge with Gateway, is the world’s first PC maker to use the AMD mobileAthlon 64 processors for its notebooks, the M6805 and M6807 models.

The impact of 64-bit notebooks on the market will become moresignificant when HP begins delivering its entry-level notebook models, builtusing the AMD mobile Athlon 64-bit processors, in the near future. Two otherTaiwanese PC makers, Asustek and BenQ, are both gearing up efforts topromote their own-brand notebook PCs, and are expected to roll out their first64-bit notebook PCs soon, also using AMD’s mobile Athlon chips.