COMPUTEX - Asustek and Intel working on $199 laptop
- — 06 June, 2007 09:30
Taiwanese hardware maker Asustek Computer is working with Intel on a line of notebook PCs priced as low as US$199, according to one of the chipmaker's top executives.
The new line of notebooks is intended for users in emerging markets and education, said Sean Maloney, executive vice president and general manager of Intel's sales and marketing group. He announced the initiative with Asustek Chairman Jonney Shih during a speech at the Computex exhibition, which started today in Taipei.
"The entry level notebooks for that will start at US$199, street price," Maloney said.
- Watch the video of the $199 notebook here
"It's totally new. It's going to have the Classmate PC brand on it, but it will be sold and shipped by Asus," Maloney said, calling the notebooks a complement to Intel's current Classmate PC line, which is aimed at bringing more students in emerging markets online.
"We're delighted there's another product here that can be used to address this problem," he said.
The US$199 price of the low-end version of Asustek's new laptop is not far from the current price of the One Laptop Per Child's (OLPC's) laptop. In April, OLPC raised the price of its upcoming XO laptop, commonly called the US$100 laptop, to US$175.
