RadioShack Offers $99 Acer Netbook With AT&T

Technology store RadioShack is offering a $99 Acer Aspire netbook at its various stores. Netbooks, a miniature version of laptops, are getting popular in the U.S and Europe.

RadioShack, Acer and AT&T jointly offer this Acer Aspire netbook for only $99 and it will run on either a Windows XP or Linux operating systems. It is available in stores (but not online). The customers who purchase this netbook should sign a two-year AT&T DataConnect mobile-broadband service agreement. Without the contract, the netbook sells for $500. The AT&T mobile-broadband plans start at $60 a month. Peter Whitsett, RadioShack's executive vice president of merchandising made this announcement today.

Many people internationally are already enjoying the portability, on-the-go connectivity and affordability of this emerging new technology...We are proud to introduce this concept in the U.S. by offering a netbook with integrated 3G functionality in addition to full Wi-Fi capability.

Roger Kay, principal analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates, believes this deal will become popular in the U.S. soon despite the poor economy. Kay added that many are buying netbooks in place of bigger laptops, whose sales may be affected because of the popularity. Acer, AT&T and RadioShack have teamed up to offer a deal that bring the Acer Aspire netbook to market for only $99. Netbooks are mobile computing devices with a screen size of five to 10 inches that run a full version of a client operating system, such as Windows XP or Linux. Netbooks, also called mini-notebooks, are expected to sell eight million units in 2009, and more than three million have been sold so far in 2008, according to Gartner. They said the netbook will sell about 50 million units by 2012. The reason for the popularity is its small form factor, tiny screen (5 to 10 inch screen), light weight, low price, and basic PC functionality, according to Annette Jump, research director at Gartner. Jump said that consumers who just like to browse the Internet, send e-mail, and instant message may prefer the netbooks more. Both first-time computer buyers and experienced buyers (who may buy netbooks as their second computer) are expected to buy more netbooks.