Asus and Acer announced that they would stop making netbooks in 2013. Netbooks were small, inexpensive laptops designed mainly for web browsing, email, and light computing.
Asus helped popularize the modern netbook category with its Eee PC, introduced in 2007. The machines became popular because they were compact and cheaper than conventional notebooks. Their low-power processors and small screens, however, made them less suitable for demanding software.
By 2012 and 2013, tablets and increasingly capable standard laptops had weakened the netbook market. Asus ended its Eee PC line, while Acer also indicated that it would stop producing netbooks. The announcement is often described as the end of the netbook era, although similarly compact laptops and later Chromebooks continued the basic idea in updated forms.