Cheap Apple netbook 'very unlikely'

Following the announcement of its latest bumper financial results, Apple is refusing to be drawn on the rumours of a forthcoming 'iTablet' device.

Analysts pressed Apple's spokespeople on the conference call discussing the company's third quarter earnings, wanting to know more about the Cupertino computing giant's plans to move into the netbook and/or tablet-style computing market.

Apple COO (Chief Operating Officer) Tim Cook was "emphatic that Apple doesn't want to sell a traditional netbook, but he danced around questions about a rumored tablet computer," reports Venturebeat.

No cheap Apple netbook

Ian Osborne, Reviews Editor over on MacFormat, commenting on the news, told TechRadar:

"Apple has always avoided the high-volume, low-cost end of the computing market, building its brand on quality rather than mass appeal. There's no reason to believe it will change this policy any time soon. It will be interesting to see what Apple releases this Autumn, but a cheap netbook is extremely unlikely."

iTablet rumours avoided

Following discussion of the positive impact on sales that followed the iPhone 3G price cut (funny that!), Cook noted: "Our goal is not to build the most computers, it's to build the best.

"Whatever price point that we can build the best at, we will play there. At this point, we don't see a way to build a great product for this $399, $499, this kind of price point unit."

Another analyst continued to press Cook on his company's plans to make "a truly mobile device" at which point Cook said he didn't want to rule anything out or make product announcements, swiftly changing the subject.

"I think most customers that are buying a portable want a full-featured notebook," he said. "We deliver those, and deliver some incredible values."

Via Venturebeat