Asus to Hike Prices of Eee PC, Notebooks

According to several reports, Asus has announced an increase in price for all of its portable computers, including the ever popular Eee PC.

ARN reports that Asus will increase prices on all existing and upcoming notebooks and Eee Family products effective March 1, 2009. Some models will see an increase of up to 20 percent.

While there are no specifics, it’s worrying that the Eee line is included in this. Netbooks are, by definition, a cheap and cheerful solution to mobile computing and while we appreciate the fact that Asus needs to make money, we can’t imagine raising the price on existing models will do much for the company’s reputation as the company that kicked the craze off in the first place.

At $400, an Eee PC is pretty decent value, however, an increase of 20 percent will put it not too far from $500. We’re inclined to think that if someone is willing to pay $500 for a netbook, they’re probably willing to pay a couple of hundred more for a machine that can do considerably more than a netbook. This price hike will put the Eee PC out of reach for a lot of people who want a netbook but are determined to stick to a budget; and with the netbook market as “us too” as it is, people have more alternatives to the Eee than they could shake a stick at.

If these rumors come to fruition, it’ll be interesting to see what happens to Eee sales. Stay tuned for more.