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Competition for ultra-low-cost PCs heats up

Quanta Computer, the world's top laptop manufacturer, has decided to launch a PC costing less than US$200 . In what could be the beginnings of a global PC price war, Quanta dropped its price for PCs after Dell launched a low-priced PC in China last week costing under US$340. Besides marketing the cheap PCs in developing countries, Quanta anticipates selling similar PCs in rich countries such as the US, where millions cannot afford access to a computer and the Internet at home.

Quanta computer is headquartered in Taiwan where it manufactures PCs for Dell, Acer, HP and other top global brands. Quanta will also manufacture laptops for MIT’s One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, which has a goal to sell laptops for US$100 each to schools and students in rich countries and governments in poor countries to eradicate the digital divide.

Mr. Michael Wang, Quanta’s president said, "the low-cost machines would not remain limited to developing markets. “There are a lot of poor people in developed countries, too”.