Wonder what could be the mainstream display size for netbook market by 2010? According to reliable source, netbook with display panel size exceeding 10-inch (up to 12-inch) will become dominant by next year due to market demand and the trend of larger size with higher resolution for the segment.

With the current typical maximum size of netbook still stays mostly at 10-inch, the source from Digitimes expects that it will sustain the entry-level market needs trying to resist entrance of new smartbook market. Meanwhile, a similar size display with touch screen capability will able to differentiate well for middle range market while leaving the mainstream market coverage with 12-inch display. However, with this positioning and trend, we should expect to see the price rise by approximately $60 since board vendor may have to adopt for Nvidia Ion chipset solution instead of conventional Intel chipset pairing with its Atom processor due to limitation on graphics and media decode performance. Anyway, Intel next generation Pinetrail N450 Atom processor with integrated graphics and memory controller is believed to be able to close the gap and it will definitely restrict Nvidia Ion usability with its own proprietary interfaces.

Obviously this is market driven requirement and may potentially pose threat or cannibalize ultra-thin notebook sale with the closer graphics and display specification as well as retail pricing. Hopefully it will not impact much on the final selling price as an affordable machine for average users.