Intel Targets Developing Countries with $199 Laptop

In a recent article by Reuters, Intel, the world's leading processor manufacturer, announced last Tuesday at Computex, a computer trade show in Taiwan, that it plans to produce a $199 laptop aimed at developing countries.

The $199 laptop, dubbed as Eee PC 701 (The 3 E's stands for, Easy to Learn, Easy to Work and Easy to Play) is in collaboration with Asustek, the World's largest computer motherboards manufacturer.

Although Intel already has a low-cost notebook out in the market, the Classmate, the Chip Giant said that the EEE would complement the former. Reuters reported that the Classmate PC is aimed at governments for use at schools in developing countries while the EEE PC will target consumers through conventional channels. The EEE PC will be under the Asustek Brand.

The EEE PC comes with a 7-inch screen, weighs around 890 grams, has a 0.3 megapixel camera, 512MB DDR2 RAM, and comes with either 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB of flash memory. Asustek is not disclosing what kind of processor is inside the laptop, but instead stated that it is an Intel Mobile Chip. The EEE PC will be priced at $199 and will be expected to hit the market around August or September.

Both the Classmate and the EEE PC will compete with OLPC's laptop. OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) is a non-profit organization headed by MIT Scientist, Nicholas Negroponte. According to The Independent, in 2005, Nicholas Negroponte, announced his vision to make affordable laptops for the children of the developing world. His organization produced a $100 laptop which will initially sell for $176. The organization is confident that it will reach its target price of $100 with sufficient orders and the price could fall to as low as $50 as new technology is developed.

OLPC's laptop, dubbed the XO, has a 7.5 inch LCD screen, Flash Storage, inbuilt wireless routers, 24 hour battery, AMD processor, and has a Linux-based operating system. OLPC's laptop has a plastic casing which is green and white in color and can be powered by hand cranks when electricity is not available.