Asus and Lenovo are expected to release Chromebooks at the end of this year or early next year that are cheaper than the models currently on the market. The laptops with Chrome OS would have a Rockchip soc based on the ARM architecture.
Lenovo’s low-cost Chromebook with 11.6-inch display could arrive late this year or early next year, and a new 11.6-inch Chromebook from Asus could be released in 2015, DigiTimes claims based on its sources within Taiwanese parts makers. Digitimes is often the first to have correct information about unannounced products, but is sometimes wrong with its rumors, often on details. The laptops will have the RK3288 soc. This is a 28nm produced ARM Cortex A17 quadcore that can be clocked up to 1.8GHz and also features an integrated Mali-T764 GPU.
The Chinese chip designer Rockchip itself already showed a working 13.3 “reference laptop with Chrome OS last summer, so it comes as no surprise that manufacturers are following with models. Lenovo already used a Rockchip soc for a cheap laptop with Android.
Rockchip is known for its budget socs. The price of 149 dollars, converted and including VAT around 145 euros, would mean a further reduction in the price of Chromebooks. The cheapest model in the Pricewatch, the Acer C720, is currently 265 euros. The arrival of even cheaper Chrome OS laptops also means increasing pressure on Microsoft. The software giant is giving manufacturers with Windows with Bing the ability to release cheaper laptops with Windows 8, in hopes of regaining lower-end market share on Chrome OS.