Asustek Computer and MicroStar International, two leading makers of mainboards and notebooks in the world, reportedly eye the market of electronic books readers. Considering the rising popularity of Amazon Kindle and Sony’s e-book readers, the market may have rather high potential.

The president of Asus, Jerry Shen, has confirmed the company’s interest in e-book readers, but said that the manufacturer would only be able to release such a product under its Eee brand very late in 2009 at the earliest. Asustek already has an extensive lineup of small Eee PC netbooks and nettops, but considering that e-book readers require usage of completely new components and technologies, late 2009 may be too optimistic promise for en Eee-branded e-book reader.

DigiTimes web-site reports that unofficial sources indicated that MSI is also likely to release an e-book reader, but none officials from the company would confirm that at this point.

Even though technology-wise e-book readers are not something extraordinary, both Asus and MSI will have to ensure that their customers will be able to acquire e-books from stores like Amazon Kindle or other. For the e-book readers market, content delivery is crucial, therefore, releasing just a device may not make a lot of sense.

Tags: ASUS, MSI, Amazon, Kindle, E-Book