With Asustek Computer recently announcing an end to its Eee PC product line from the end of 2012, while Acer also has no plans to release more netbook products, the netbook market will officially end after the two vendors finish digesting their remaining inventories.

Facing strong competition from tablets, only Asustek and Acer are still competing in the netbook market and are mainly selling to emerging markets such as countries in Southeast Asia and South America.

However, Intel will continue to keep its Atom processors and will push into the embedded market for applications such as digital signage and point of sale (POS).

Currently, Acer's Atom N2600-based 10-inch netbook is priced less than NT$7,500 (US$258), while Asustek's Eee PC 1015CX is also lower than NT$9,000.

To replace netbooks, notebook vendors have launched several entry-level notebooks with prices from NT$10,000-15,000.