Intel, Asus Announce $199 'Eee PC'
06.05.07
By Mark Hachman
Bug: Computex Taipei 2007
TAIPEI — Asus and Intel have teamed up to develop a $199 notebook PC, the companies announced here on Tuesday.
In a keynote address given by Sean Maloney, an executive vice president at Intel and chief marketing and sales officer, Jonney Shih, chairman and chief executive of Asus, was invited on stage to unveil the "Eee PC," an inexpensive laptop designed to help spread computing to poorer regions.
Two models were demonstrated: a $199 and $299 model. They represent part of what Intel is now calling its "World Ahead," market initiative, giving virtually anyone around the world a chance to own a PC. Rival AMD has had its own initiative, more dedicated to seeking partners in impoverished companies to provide low-cost computers, which it calls its "50x15" plan.
A shipping date was not announced for the new device. The Eee PC will apparently connect to the Internet, as it will allow users to make VOIP calls, Asus' Shih said.
"It will give them [people] the chance to access the Internet and share in the 21st century opportunity," Maloney added.
Details of the new Eee PC were scarce; given that Shih introduced the Eee PC during Maloney's keynote, it was assumed that the design would contain an Intel processor and chipset. In a demonstration on stage, a working model of the Eee PC booted in about fifteen seconds to what was clearly not a Microsoft OS. It weighs about 900 grams, Shih said.
"This is the world's lowest cost and easiest PC," Shih said, holding the small white conventional notebook aloft. The name, he said, represented a three-fold repetition of the word "easy": "easy to learn, easy to play, easy to work," he said, noting that the name also conjured up the Nintendo Wii game console, which novices can pick up and play in a matter of minutes, he said.
While small, light notebooks are nothing new, the Eee PC represents a new segment for the market: an ultra-low-cost laptop that will apparently be sold as is, and not subsidized by a service provider to lower the cost.
"We really hope, you know, that in the whole world far more people are looking for a low-cost and very easy PC," Shih said, noting that a cheap PC designed for households wit senior citizens or young children could "really expand the market", and perhaps expand it by another billion dollars, he said.
"They don't necessarily replace higher-end products, at multiple price points," Maloney said, addressing the question of whether the new PCs would cannibalize existing products.
"It's jussssssssssssS 'gonnabe awesome"
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