You could be able to grab Apple's netbook computer featuring a touch screen monitor in next couple of months! Well, the reports are hot that Apple Inc. is gearing up to bring out its touch screen netbook.

Sources close to Apple have reported in Dow Jones Newswires that Apple is preparing to roll out its touch screen netbook as early as the second half of the current year. Dow Jones Newswires has reported that Taiwan's Wintek Corp. and Quanta Computer Inc. will help Apple bring out its touch screen netbook.

DigiTimes has also reported that Taiwan-based Quanta Computer, which is known for manufacturing laptops for most of the well known consumer electronics sellers, will develop the netbook computer for Apple. Quanta Computer is the largest notebook maker by revenue in the World.

In the Chinese-language Commercial Times, DigiTimes has reported that Apple will get the touch panels for its touch screen netbook from Taiwan-based Wintek, a contract maker of small and medium displays, and Apple will start shipping its touch screen netbook in the second half of this year.

According to reports, Apple's netbook will likely feature a touch screen sizing between 9.7-inches and 10-inches. If these reports are correct, then Apple is looking to enter the netbook market to compete with Acer, Asus, Dell, and HP.

Netbooks are smaller, lighter, and cheaper than the conventional laptop computers. They are mainly designed for Internet browsing and mobile computing. Netbooks are growing pretty popular in the recent times and their market is flourishing.

However, last year, Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs dismissed the idea of netbook saying that Apple's iPhone 3G - a smartphone device that offer multifunctions - could serve as a netbook. In October, Jobs told analysts, "We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk."

So, if the recent Apple netbook reports are authentic, what could be the cost of Apple netbook? It certainly could be between $200 iPhone/iPod Touch and the $1000 MacBook. $600 Apple netbook could better compete with the netbooks produced by Asus/Acer/Dell/HP. Jill Tan, a spokeswoman for Apple in Asia, however, has declined to comment on the recent touch screen netbook reports.