Mon, Jun 02, 2008 page12

• PC makers gear up for Computex

  LESS IS MORE Low-cost PCs and energy-saving products are expected to take center stage at Computex Taipei, Asia's biggest computer trade fair, which opens tomorrow

  • AFP
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  Computer makers are expected to showcase the latest of their lines of low-cost PCs at the Taipei computer trade fair — the biggest computer show in Asia — when it opens tomorrow.

  Many of the models on display at the five-day trade fair, also known as Computex Taipei, carry price tags of less than US$500.

  “Initially, low-cost PCs were designed for poor children in emerging markets,” said Jane Tseng (曾筱軫) of the Topology Research Institute (拓墣產業研究所), a private think tank in Taipei.

  “However, PC vendors found demand also from developed countries which they had not previously targeted,” she said. “Since such laptops are thin and light in weight, they have become the second or third PCs of some users.”

  Among the leaders is Taiwanese computer maker Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), which unveiled in mid-October its first low-cost brandname laptop computer, the “Eee PC,” which is targeted at children, elderly people and low-income users in the developing world.

  Weighing only 0.89kg, and equipped with a 7-inch screen, the Eee PCs feature compact mobility, wireless capability and large, flash-based storage capacity. They are priced at US$300 to US$500.

  Asustek sold at least 350,000 Eee PCs in the two months after it hit the market.

  The company sold 650,000 units of the Eee PCs in the three months to March this year and is estimated to sell up to 5 million this year, Tseng said.

  The better-than-expected success has encouraged Asustek’s rivals to follow suit.

  Also to be seen at the trade show are products featuring futuristic WiMAX products, green IT products, innovative gadgets and new-generation models of existing items.

  WiMAX stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access and is similar to the more familiar WiFi that most laptops are equipped with.

  “Energy-saving products will be in the limelight amid growing global concern about surging oil prices,” said Walter Yeh (葉明水), executive vice president of the trade show organizers, the semi-official Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).

  More than 1,700 exhibitors, up 28 percent from the previous year, will be hoping to attract an estimated 35,000 buyers from around the world.

  To meet rising demand, the trade show will for the first time be held simultaneously at four venues, three at or near the Taipei World Trade Center and the fourth at the newly established exhibition hall in Nangang.

  Yeh said he hoped the show would attract orders worth up to US$20 billion as well as another US$30 billion worth of follow-up business opportunities.

  He said that weaker demand from the North American market because of the subprime financial crisis and the falling US dollar would be offset by demand from Southeast Asia and other emerging markets.

  Unlike the CeBIT fair in Hanover, Germany, Computex Taipei is aimed at suppliers and retailers rather than general customers, said Chang Li (張笠), deputy secretary general of the Taipei Computer Association.

  However, the exhibition will be open to local individual customers on the last day.
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