Netbooks continue to grow, with new form factors and internal specifications blurring the lines between the ultra mobile notebooks and fully equipped notebooks with smaller screen sizes. Intel, for one, believes that the distinction between the two should be clear and the chip maker isn't afraid to let its partners know that.
According to a report in the DigiTimes, Intel is pulling the preferential pricing it had previously given Lenovo and Samsung. The chip maker made the move because it believes that the form factor of machines using its Atom line of processors shouldn't exceed 10.2 inches.
According to sources in the report, Intel will pull preferential pricing for the two vendors because they offer products that break "restrictions on netbooks having a panel size of 10.2-inch or below."
In May, Lenovo rolled out its S12 netbook with a 12.1-inch form factor. According to DigiTimes, Samsung is planning on rolling out an 11.6-inch Nvidia Ion-based netbook that is also in violation of Intel's alleged size restriction.
In May, reports surfaced that Intel and Microsoft were both seeking to limit the form factors on netbooks. At the time, Microsoft was using the impending release of Windows 7 as its leverage over OEM manufacturers to keep the size of netbooks at 10.2 inches or smaller. The Redmond crew was using a price boost on the operating system as its means of keeping netbooks at a certain size.
It appears, from Intel's play, that the financial front is likely the best way to encourage or punish vendors that don't agree to the netbook size limit. The chip maker declined to comment on the reports, instead telling the DigiTimes that it "has long been pro-competitive."
