Will Google enter the PC hardware market?

China Times reports Google intends to launch Chrome OS netbooks equipped with touchscreens. Compal, a Taiwan-based ODM, is tasked with the manufacturing. Per this report, Google placed the order itself rather than relying on a 3rd party like Acer or Asus as with the Nexus products. Internal components will begin shipping to Compal this month, a sign that China Times takes to mean the product itself will ship yet in 2012.

Google Chromebook

If this reports proves true, it is indeed a bad news for Microsoft, which will be threatened in its own market using its own strategy. See my today's full comment on Start2Cloud.com.