In addition to Acer, which is set to launch a Broadwell-U-based 15.6-inch Chromebook in March 2015, Dell is planning to launch a 15.6-inch Chromebook with similar specifications in the first half of 2015 and both devices may be priced under US$300, according to Digitimes Research's latest findings from the upstream supply chain.
Digitimes Research believes if the two vendors have adopted the Broadwell-U processor that has performance comparable to Intel's Core i3 CPU, the two Chromebooks will be very competitive in terms of price/performance ratio.
With the exception of Lenovo's 11.6-inch touchscreen-ready N20P, which is above US$300, Chromebooks sized from 11.6- to 14-inch are all under US$300. The US$249-299 is the most commonly seen price range for these devices.
For the new 15.6-inch Chromebook, Google has set the target price at less than US$300, and devices with the processor of Core i3 performance can be priced as high as US299, about US$50 cheaper than similar-specification models using a Wintel combination.
Although Microsoft is planning to start a new Windows 8.1 with Bing project in February 2015 to push US$249 notebooks, the project has provided Google an opportunity to expand its presence in the notebook market with its inexpensive products as Microsoft's new project will not cover 15-inch products.
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