"Micro-Star International (MSI) has revealed that the company is planning to launch three Wind Neton all-in-one desktop PCs in January next year with a price ranging between US$399-799, according to Joseph Hsu, chairman of the company.

Two Wind Neton models – M16 with a 15.6-inch panel and M19 with an 18.5-inch panel – will adopt the Intel Atom 270 processor and 945GSE chipset, and will also features 1GB DDR2 memory, 160GB hard drive, a slim-type optical drive and either Windows XP or Linux. The M16 will be priced around US$399 while the M19 will be priced around US$499. MSI is also evaluating a plan to adopt dual-core Atom processors for the PCs.

The company's M22 will have a higher performance, as it will feature either an Intel dual-core or quad-core mobile CPU, GS45 chipset and a and a 21.5-inch panel. The device will also support H.264 and VC1 hardware decoding, an optional Blu-ray drive and touch screen control. The M22 will be priced between US$599-799 based on the specifications (not including the price of Blu-ray drives).

The Wind Neton will be mainly target the multimedia home entertainment market, while also targeting the bidding (government and education procurement) and emerging markets.

Hsu believes all-in-one PC products will account for around 30-40% of the desktop PC market over the next three years.

In additional news, Hsu pointed out that the company may not be able to reach its original motherboard shipment goal of 20 million units in 2008 and it has revised the figures to around 16-18 million units. As for 2009, although the motherboard market on the whole may see a drop in shipments, the company will still be able to maintain its same level of shipments, or a slight drop on year, as some competitors will quit the market.

The company also expects its revenues in 2008 to break the NT$100 billion (US$2.99 billion) mark this year with net profits of NT$2.7-2.9 billion, and earnings per share (EPS) of around NT$2.7."