ASUS may not be axing its entire 8.9-inch Eee PC netbook range after all, despite recent reports suggesting it would be.

ASUS CEO Jonney Shih spoke on the subject of phasing out older, smaller netbooks at CeBIT ‘09 in Hannover, Germany, and believes the 8.9-inch range still has good prospects, specifically for kids, telecom providers, or emerging markets.

This could mean that ASUS will target small niche markets with the 8.9-inchers, rather than push them as an integral part of ASUS’ netbook distribution.

Shih did confirm that the even smaller 7-inch Eee PCs are about to gradually be phased out, although suggested there could be some demand for them in emerging countries. This is contrary to reports from late last year where the company said both the 7-inch and 8.9-inch netbooks would continue to prosper with refreshed specs.

Source: CNET