Local computer vendors might be able to cash in on the booming low-cost computer market by participating in related initiatives such as Microsoft Corp's FlexGo program, industry watchers said yesterday.
"Low-cost computers present a new area for Taiwanese makers to tap into. The initial volumes might be trivial, but it nonetheless gives them another new opportunity for business growth," Allan Pu (卜正倫), an analyst with SinoPac Securities Corp (建華證券), told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Due to their low prices, sales of these new breed of computers will enable manufacturers to break into emerging markets and stimulate users demand, he added.
Late last month, Microsoft unveiled a new pay-as-you-go technology designed to make personal computers more affordable to emerging markets at the WinHEC Windows Hardware Engineering conference in Seattle.
The scheme allows users to make a down payment of US$250 on a mid-level PC, then pay for the time they use on their computers with pre-paid cards similar to those sold by cell phone companies. Users will also be able to buy time via their local Internet service providers.
trials
The program, known as FlexGo, was trialled in Brazil late last month and will be tested in India, China, Russia, Slovenia, Vietnam and Mexico. Eventually, it might even be offered to customers in the US.
Asustek Computer Inc (
Both Asustek and Wistron refused to comment on the specific details of their involvement in the project, citing premature timing.
Another low-cost computer initiative in which Taiwan's makers are involved is the "One Laptop Per Child" (OLPC) project, with the first notebook prototype -- made by world's largest notebook maker Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) -- unveiled only last month.
Aiming to revolutionize the education of the world's children, the initiative was announced at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland in January last year by Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder and chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab.
Negroponte told an audience at the Red Hat Summit in Tennessee on June 2 that the US$100 laptop will cost about US$135 when made available to children in developing countries by the middle of next year.
Economies of scale will help bring the cost of the rugged 1.5kg Linux-based laptops to US$100 apiece by 2008, and to US$50 by 2010. Shipments are estimated to be around 7 million to 10 million units for next year, he said.
costs
However, Tony Chen (
Pu added that the OLPC's scheme might not receive the support that has been anticipated as the notebooks will have limited functions.
He believes Microsoft's FlexGo will gain an upper hand as the machines are equipped with stronger features due to their higher costs.
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