Mobile Gadgets Fuel Chip Sales

The biggest change in notebooks in 2008 involves the recent debut of "ultramobile" notebooks such as the $400 Eee PC from Taiwan's Asus, as well as the One Laptop Per Child XO laptop.

In the near term, the tiny notebooks may prove to be the market best suited for the solid-state hard drives that use NAND flash memory chips in lieu of magnetic technology.

Anticipation from investors and analysts is mounting that Apple will release an ultra-slim, flash-based notebook in 2008, possibly as early as January's annual Macworld Expo. Apple's so-called "sub-notebook" is likely to use touch-screen sensitivity similar to the iPhone, and carry a $1,500 price tag, say UBS analysts.

As with smartphones and MP3 players, Apple could once again be the one to turn an emerging technology into a must-have product.

Reporter Daniel Del'Re contributed to this story.