Samsung and Dell planning 11.6-inch netbook models?

Some of the leading netbook manufacturers are jumping onto the 11.6” netbook bandwagon, with Acer having released the Aspire One 751 and Asus planning the Eee PC 1101HA to be released shortly. Well it looks like both Samsung and Dell may also be planning 11.6-inch netbook models.

According to a report from Digitimes, the Taiwanese based LCD panel manufacturer, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT), has landed orders from both Dell and Samsung for 11.6-inch netbook display panels. There’s scant information apart from that, but we would hardly be surprised if the news were true.

This is the first time that we have heard that Samsung may be dipping its toes in the 11.6-inch netbook segment. However, with everyone producing larger netbook models (including new 12” models from MSI and Lenovo) we imagine that they can’t afford to be left behind. This could even be the eventual replacement for Samsungs 12.1-inch NC20 model.

This is not exactly new news on Dells part either. We have already heard rumours that Dell may be planning to launch the Dell Mini 11, an 11.6-inch model to replace the Dell Mini 12 that recently went end-of-life in the UK. These rumours stemmed from an apparently leaked internal Dell roadmap which also suggested this model will use Intel’s CULV platform and sport a high resolution (1366 x 768) display.