Target Planning a Netbook Push?

Yesterday afternoon I stopped a local Target store here in Central New Jersey. Naturally, I couldn’t keep myself away from the electronics section after picking up a prescription. Expecting to find the usual variety of HDTVs and digital cameras, I was awestruck by a large display dedicated to netbooks. “Little Netbook. Big Value,” the signage read and below was a variety of hanging netbook accessories, including portable mice, SD cards, earbuds, etc. The only thing missing from the display was functioning netbooks. A black and a white Eee PC 701 were on display with a mock up Xandros Linux screen, but a sign next to them read “Eee PC. The 8.9 inch netbook is the affordable mobile companion to your home or office computer.” Listed on Target.com are a variety of netbooks including the HP Mini 1000, MSI Wind, and Eee PC 900. Will Target start selling these netbooks in store? When I asked the not-very-helpful store employee he said they didn’t have any stock in yet but were  planning on having working units of the Eees sometime soon.

I found the entire display interesting and it is one of the only retailers I have seen really trying to teach customers what netbooks are. Of course, Target, unlike Best Buy doesn’t really have a notebook business to infringe upon. But asI have been saying in response to all this emerging market data, I am really dying to know what percentage of non-early adopters know what netbooks are at this stage. Target’s marketing push should help with that.