Asus' French operation has confirmed that the Eee PC 1000HE - the company's popular netbook and provider of a nine-hour runtime - is to be phased out after the arrival of a new, yet-to-be announced machine.

French-language site Blogeee.net today wrote:

"After the announcement [by Register Hardware] a few days ago [of] a concentration of supply around the Asus Eee PC 1008HA, 1005HA-M and 1005HA-H in England, I just had confirmation from Asus France of this decision.

"The Eee PC 1000HE, current flagship of the range, like many other models, will not be continued after the launch of new machines Asus."The EeePC 1000HE, current flagship of the range, like many other models, will not be continued after the launch of new machines."

Here in the UK, Asus' netbook marketing chief, John Swatton, told us: "The 1000H and 1000HE are currently our most popular Eee PC models and therefore the focus. There are no plans to discontinue these products at the moment because they are so popular.

"At present, the 1000H and 1000HE offer the best combination of functionality and performance for the price."

Asus' different national operations make their own decisions about which Eee PCs to bring to their respective markets, so the French decisions doesn't necessarily mean the 1000HE is for the chop in the UK too, but that's certainly the interpretation we would make.

Swatton stressed today that the Eee PC pioneer hasn't discontinued the 7in 701 or the 9in 900A, 901 and 904, either.

"These are still our focus Eee PC models and will be available to customers to purchase for some time yet," he said.

However, he added, "over the next few months the roadmap will change, simply to make it easier for customers to decide which Eee PC model best fits their individual needs and requirements.

"What we are seeing is that the market as a whole is adopting the 10in platform as the most popular," he added. "I think that in time every manufacturer will focus on the 10in platform simply because this is what the market is demanding. Whether this happens in Q3 or Q4, we will have to see."

We look forward to Asus' Computex announcements with great interest... ®