In early December, many netbook sites, including we at the Netbook Lounge, reported that Coby Electronics was ready to shake up the market with some sub-$100 netbooks called PoqetMates.

Just a day later, a post at Ars Technica called hoax on the story posted by Arkansas IMC after contacting Cody PR representatives, who told them “this story, or any announcement regarding a netbook, was not (emphasis theirs) initiated, condoned, or approved by Coby Electronics.” A few days later came an official debunking by Coby, who said with absolute finality, “Coby Electronics Corporation is not currently producing a PC nor is one headed to market at any price under the company’s name.”

It is now January and netbook makers from all over the world are at CES 2009 in Las Vegas. And guess who is there? Yeah, Coby Electronics with a series of what appear to be discount netbooks. Engadget has the story along with some photos and information from a Coby rep.

In a variety of colours, Coby’s netbooks are lined up and the rep called them a “market research project”, before saying that the machines would price at “under $200″. The machines will be very bottom of the barrel, but if they do in fact make the market, the sub-$200 price tag should appeal to a lot of consumers looking for a cheap computer during the ongoing credit crunch.

What I’d be interested to know is if Arkansas IMC’s breaking story that they were panned so hard for WAS indeed of a hoax or if Coby’s new netbook line is completely unrelated.