Amid fierce competition in the notebook sector, vendors are aggressively promoting products with unique features, such as fingerprint authentication and built-in digital TV modules.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) Taiwan Ltd yesterday joined the trend, launching its first dual-core Napa notebook utilizing fingerprint authentication aimed at commercial users.
"Business users nowadays are very concerned about data security. Fingerprint authentication offers a customizable solution and saves users the hassle of keying in a password to log on to their computer," said Benjamin Ou (
The 14-inch Compaq nx6320, which weighs 2.5kg, comes in two models -- one runs on a 1.66GHz processor and has a 60GB hard drive, whereas the other has a 1.86GHz processor and 80GB hard drive.
Prices start from NT$44,900 (US$1,377), which HP described as affordable compared with rival products.
Strong momentum
According to Dennis Chen (陳敬宏), general manager of the company's personal systems group, second-quarter momentum in the business segment is strong, with new projects from the Central Trust of China (中信局) set to start in May.
Taipei-based Central Trust, whose operations include banking, insurance, trade and warehousing, is in charge of purchasing computers and other goods for government agencies and schools.
Central Trust's orders will easily account for more than 40 percent of the commercial demand in the local market, Chen said.
HP Taiwan prepared for accelerated growth in the notebook market this year by launching more mid-level and high-end computers targeted at enterprises, Chen said in January.
Meanwhile, BenQ Corp (
These notebooks offer access to digital TV broadcasts from channels such as Chinese Television System (
The laptops can also be used in certain parts of China and Europe that support the Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial (DVB-T) standard.
TV tuners
"We are considering built-in digital TV tuners and Web cameras as standard specifications for future notebooks," Hank Horng (
Retailing at NT$54,900, the 12-inch Joybook S61 uses a 1.66GHz processor and has an 80GB hard drive. The S73, which sells for NT$52,900, has a 14-inch screen, 80GB hard drive and 1.66GHz processor.
BenQ, which is marking its fourth year in the notebook industry this year, aims to boost its global shipping volume to more than 700,000 units this year from 220,000 units last year, Horng said.
The company will continue to strengthen its foothold in China, hoping to boost shipments to 300,000 units by the end of the year, which would make it one of the top six players there, he said.
"After establishing a foundation in China, we will be more aggressive in the Taiwanese market in the second half of the year," he said.
Last year, BenQ managed to sell only 23,000 notebooks locally as a result of losing out on cost control compared with its rivals, Horng said.
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