The primary impetus behind the EEE was massive overproduction of LCD screen assemblies for portable DVD players (7", 800x480) so the prices hit rock bottom, pos

The primary impetus behind the EEE was massive overproduction of LCD screen assemblies for portable DVD players (7", 800x480) so the prices hit rock bottom, possibly below manufacturing cost. In addition there was a lot of dead stock of crap Celerons, along with Intel continuing to produce a really cheap several-generation-old power-hungry chipset as the bottom of their range. Netbooks are a result of a boom/bust cycle in Taiwan and Shenzen.