VIA makes minor gain in desktop PC processor segment

IDC has released the figures for processor sales in 2009. While Intel still well and truely holds top position, AMD and VIA both enjoyed a percentage gain last year. While AMD clawed back small gains in the server/workstation and mobile PC segments, VIA gained 0.1% in the desktop PC segment. Surprisingly, in the same year, mobile PC processor sales for VIA fell by 0.05%. You win some and you loose some! - Source

VIA releases new logo for China market: consumers are goal

TMCNet are reporting that VIA released a new logo specifically for China last week as part of a new marketing strategy to become a consumer brand name in the country rather than just being the chips that no one has heard of inside the devices that have brand names that they know.

"VIA points out that the release of the logo indicates a strategy change. In the future, it will guide the development of the chip industry and the behavior of customers in partnership with terminal makers."

The new logo apparently sports heart shaped curves emanating from chips. Unfortunately I couldn't find a copy of the logo. Google translate wasn't being nice when I tried to find it on the Chinese language website that was TMCNet's source and VIA is such a hard company name to search for because it's also a word, via. Let me know if you find the new logo!

Shuttle Alliance with big plans for notebooks

Just before CES I posted news that Shuttle were going to announce an Alliance of second tier hardware manufacturers, who would work together to increase their overall netbook market share. That alliance has now been announced as the Shuttle New Notebook Ecosystem.

"Shuttle revealed more members of its alliance at CES 2010 including CPU makers AMD and VIA Technologies, keyboard maker Chicony Electronics, power supply maker Lite-On Technology, battery module maker Simplo Technology, Korea-based panel maker LG Display and Japan-based DRAM maker Elpida Memory." - Digitmes.

The group hope to ship 150 000 notebooks in the first quarter. The concept is similar to VIA's Global Mobility Bazaar which sees Chinese manufacturers work together to build netbooks.

Shuttle starting netbook alliance?

I've been on holidays so I am still catching up with news from the past couple of weeks. Digitimes reported on 23 December that Shuttle would announce an alliance for second tier notebooks makers:

"In addition to Intel platforms, the alliance will also be open to adopting platforms from AMD, VIA Technologies and ARM. Since the alliance already has partnerships with several component makers and OEMs, second-tier notebook players will be able to purchase components at costs and with quality competitive with first-tier players, the sources noted. Shuttle also plans for the alliance to offer a complete after-sales service channel."

Their goal is to increase second tier notebook manufacturers' market share to 15% for 2010. But in that news, it was stated that the alliance was to be announced by the end of December and now it's 4th Jan and I can't find any more news about it. Maybe they'll be launching at CES this week?

OLPC XO 1.5 to launch this month

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is now in its third year and a new model will start being produced this month which drops the AMD Geode processor for a VIA C7-M ULV. The change in processor will increase the processing speed and improve battery life. The price target is $200 and it will be able to run Windows although it's most likely that most orders will ship with Linux since it's more easily tailored for local languages and has a lower cost.

The project also has further models planned for 2011 and 2012, the latter being the most interesting - a tablet PC design. The glossy concept photos look fantastic, but I wonder how robust such a thin device would be in remote parts of Africa?! - Daily Tech.