ASUS notebooks & Eee PCs headed to Walmart?

ASUS are eyeing up US retailer Wal-Mart as the next potential point of sale for their notebooks, according to the latest rumors coming out of Taiwan, as the company explores ways in which it can break the 1m US sales barrier.  That means buyers will soon be able to find ASUS notebooks and netbooks, most likely at the budget end of the spectrum, on the shelves, as ASUS attempts to push past Acer's netbook lead.

In 2008, ASUS sold 650,000 notebooks – including Eee PC netbook models – in the US.  That's compared to Acer's 16-percent market share, with shipments in Q4 2008 alone amounting to between 1.4 and 1.5 million notebooks and netbooks.

There's no definite timescale on when you'll start seeing Eee PC netbooks appearing in Wal-Mart.  However, given the increase in sales performance when the budget ultraportables first shifted from being online-only to having some retail presence, expect ASUS to be pushing hard.