Shanzhai ION platform ready to pounce

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Comments Posted on Sep 28, 2009 Posted by Song Jiang

It looks like shanzhai manufacturers will soon be plying their customers with the added graphical goodness that is the Nvidia ION platform, possibly beating their Western counterparts to the punch. Suzhou Jushi Electronics are finally close to finishing the development of their latest board designed for next-gen netbook devices.

Shanzhai manufacturing is centered on the concept of collaborative competition, with massive specialization meaning that companies compete with each other to offer the components needed for a product, yet have to collaborate to make it all work when it comes together. Suzhou Jushu Electronics are based not in Shenzhen but in Suzhou of Jiangsu Province, specializing in R&D for consumer electronics. Apparently the board we can see here is the fruit of countless man hours, debugging and tweaking the Nvidia 9400M chipset to play ball with its partner, the Intel Atom processor.

Here's some real silicon porn for you all.

Here's are some examples of 'Handbook' devices based on the same board.
Apparently the board can be used in devices ranging from 12.1" and above

ion-board4

Note the addition of a HDMI port above. Not something you'd usually find on a netbook.

ion-board6

Western Opportunity Analysis:

Both consumers and media have been fairly excited about the potentially thrilling combination of Nvidia's 9400M IGP and Intel's low power Atom chip, hoping for a refresh of the netbook segment in terms of performance for both graphics and HD video, two areas where the current (Atom + 945GE) platform lags woefully behind notebook offerings. Intel however has repeatedly distanced itself from ION, preferring instead to push its complete platform to the point that many OEMs were actually being charged more to simply purchase Atom on its own without its chipset buddies.

Conclusions:

This appearance of this board is one of the first signs that ION is almost ready as a shanzhai netbook platform. Suzhou are apparently looking for manufacturing partners to make their own 'Handbook' branded products, while also seeking out potential customers for its new ION board. I personally can't wait to get my hands on a product based on one. Netbook 2.0 here we come.

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