Intel, Asus Pair on Low-Cost Notebooks

Hand in hand with its Series 3 chipset announcements today at Taiwan’s Computex computer trade show, chipmaker Intel and motherboard manufacturer Asustek have announced plans to collaborate on a fully-fledged notebook PC aimed at education and developing markets, one of which would be priced below $200.

The new notebooks from Intel and Asustek would be full-fledged low-end notebooks with small screens and low-end processors, but “fully fledged” systems capable of running modern operating systems and mainstream software. Asustek’s Sunny Han told Reuters that the company hopes to begin shipping the machines in July or August and hopes to sell 200,000 systems during 2007.

The new systems from Intel and Asustek would compete directly with systems from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative, which aims to begin mass production of education-centric low-end PCs shortly, at an initial cost around $180 per unit. While the OLPC systems feature a custom interface designed specifically for education purposes, are offered strictly to governments, and form ad-hoc wireless networks, the Intel/Asustek systems would be offered through traditional consumer channels and run standard software.

The new Intel/Asustek systems would also compete with Intel’s own ClassMate initiative, a low-cost education-centric PC for developing economies. Intel has shipped a little under 1,500 systems to governments in Asia and South America for testing.

The announcement highlights the market opportunity PC makers see in developing economies even as the price point for low-cost PCs continues to drop. If the products succeed, they may add fuel to the arguments nay-sayers have always had about education-centric projects like the OLPC initiative, some of whom have said market forces alone would be sufficient to offer low-cost computing and technology in developing markets.

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