SlashGear Japan
The $100 price point is where computer makers have been striving to get for the education market. That price was what the OLPC first promised with its XO laptop and was ultimately unable to deliver on that promise. A computer maker from Taiwan called DMP has announced a new notebook that carries a price tag of $100 reports DigiTimes.
The netbook is the Edubook and it features an 8.9-inch panel and a low-power CPU that was developed by DMP itself. The device has the power to run Windows XP, but the OS is optional. Power for the machine comes from eight AA batteries promising four hours of run time.
The ability to power the device from AA batteries is important considering the sketchy power grid in many developing nations where the target market lives. Shipments of the Edubook have reportedly begun already in Latin America and several governments in Eastern Europe and Africa are said to be interested in the machine as well. The netbook is shipped in a component form where it is then assembled at the destination country to save customs duties or meet import requirements. The buildup reportedly takes ten minutes and has 30 steps.
One Response to “Taiwanese computer maker DMP unviels $100 Edubook netbook”
This article is completely inaccurate. I have contacted DMP about this as well. I will try to clear this up here.
NorhTec has been a longtime customer of DMP’s. Two years ago, DMP told me that they could produce a CPU that was similar to their Vortex86DX but targeted towards more commercial applications than pure industrial and embedded. I proposed setting up a company to focus on this CPU which is Xcore (www.xcore86.com). We signed an agreement to this effect.
Xcore focused on Education projects in emerging markets as NorhTec already had a presence in this market. We brought our requirements to DMP and we agreed on sharing the name Edubook which Xcore coined for the same product. Xcore was granted exclusivity in some markets and we began to jointly promote the product to customers.
DMP conceived the idea of offering a SKD barebones version with a minimum quantity of 1000 units. The barebones means no storage, no batteries, no power cord and no WIFI. SKD means that the parts are shipped as a kit to be assembled locally.
Some of the deals that we are together have the potential for several hundred thousand units. Together we have quoted very large opportunities which would involve shippng 100s of thousands of units to countries either assembled, assembled barebones, SKD complete and SKD barebones.
The price we have offered on these deals will make the Edubook the lowest priced x86 computer ever offered but the Edubook is in now way a cheap or crappy product. Out of the preproduction units we have shipped, we have seen no failures involving the electronics. The only problems we have seen have been from damage from customers who are taking the units apart and putting together again testing the units.
The Edubooks started shipping October 1st. We have held back shipping preproduction units — even when customers literally begged because we wanted to make the units production ready. The inital shipments are slowed as some of the parts are sourced in china which is having a week long holiday.
Today, the end user price for 512 MB RAM is $199.95. This is a completely assembled product. The product will be sold to dealers oor volume customers at a discount. We also offer a barebones assembled version for $150.00.
No customer has yet been offered or promised an assembled production unit, complete or barebones for $100.00 by DMP or NorhTec — even at 10,000 units.
Neutral