Wave of Intel dual-core Netbooks to break

Intel announced on Monday the first dual-core Atom processor targeted specifically at Netbooks, finally putting the same number of processing cores inside these tiny laptops as found on larger mainstream laptops.

Acer, Asus, Fujitsu, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, MSI, and Toshiba, among others, are expected to follow with new dual-core Netbooks in the coming weeks and months, according to Intel.

This is a big step for the Netbook market. Since their inception back in spring 2008, Netbooks have been powered by single-core processors. This allowed Netbook suppliers to design 10-inch-class laptops that were relatively power efficient and cheap, typically around $350.

The widely reported downside has been lackluster performance, since all processing must be funneled through one processor. The Atom performance gap with mainstream Core 2 Duo and Core i laptop processors is also due to design differences. (Mainstream laptop processors have the architecture to deliver higher-level performance.) But the fact that the Atom for Netbooks has always been single core has exacerbated the performance gap.

Intel has other reasons for moving to dual core. Low-power dual-core processors from rival Advanced Micro Devices are already appearing in Netbook-class laptops. The Hewlett-Packard Pavilion dm1z, an 11.6-inch Netbook, uses an AMD Turion II Neo dual-core processor K625 (1.5GHz) and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 graphics processor, offering potentially stiff competition for single-core Atom Netbooks.

The new dual-core Intel N550 Atom supports DDR3 memory, another performance benefit.

Intel said it has shipped about 70 million Atom processors for Netbooks to date.