The Myth Of The "Ultra-Mobile" Computer (INTC)(QCOM)(RIMM)

There is a good deal of excitement about the market for tiny computers. These would have keyboards about the size of a normal notebook but a four inch screen. They would weigh under two pounds.

Intel (INTC) is beginning to offer chips for the devices and word is that Qualcomm (QCOM) will enter the market at well. According to CNN Money, the Intel chips "demand relatively little power and are smaller than standard PC processors, allowing them to be crammed into tinier devices, which would be built by other companies."

Perhaps the idea looks good on paper, but it assumes that consumers will give up their RIM (RIMM) Blackberry, their Apple (AAPL) iPhone, or whatever other smart device they have. Notebook PCs are already available in modest sizes, so the market for the product which Intel describes would seem very modest.

It is the beginning of the year, so best to get the silly public relations out of the way.

Douglas A. McIntyre