A report said that Asustek, which has sold its Eee notebook like hot cakes this year, will replace Intel's Atom chip with the Celeron, and at the same time upgrade the unit's hard drive.

According to Taiwanese wire Digitimes, Asus will sell a Celeron 220 based box for around $250, and upgrade its hard drive to 120GB.
At the same time, Asus is apparently offering a bundle which includes a 19-inch LCD monitor for not that much more.

Yesterday we reported that Intel appears to be flagging in its enthusiasm for Atom-based devices - although we suspect that's when the low priced microprocessor starts to eat into its Celeron market share.

Intel was always acutely aware of the danger that dinky little notebooks containing the Atom would impact sales of chips that make it a lot more money.

But this tale, reminiscent of the Sorceror's Apprentice, may indicate that once the tap had been turned on the Atom, it's hard to slow the cascade. Not so much tick-tock - more like Hic Haec Hoc.  Digitimes is here. X

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