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OLPC Manufacturer to Sell $200 Laptop On Open Market

Posted by Zonk on from the now-we're-getting-somewhere dept.

srinravi writes "ArsTechnica reports that Quanta, the company manufacturing the XO laptops, has plans to begin selling low-cost budget mobile computers for $200 later this year. 'According to Quanta president Michael Wang, the company plans to leverage the underlying technologies associated with OLPC's XO laptop to produce laptop computers that are significantly less expensive than conventional laptops.' While OLPC plans to sell the laptops in bulk to governments, which will then distribute the hardware to school children, the XO computer itself is not for sale on the open market. These XO-like commercial devices are still something of an unknown, but it has been announced they'll be using Open Source software."

7 of 214 comments (clear)

  1. They are very insistent on NOT releasing it? by sethstorm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For such a device, they sure are wanting to not release it - when that could be a good way to fund such devices. Is there some sort of problem with quality at that kind of mass amount?

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    1. Re:They are very insistent on NOT releasing it? by siriuskase · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Marketing costs, distribution costs, etc.

      While they may have figured out how to market and distribute to the governments that are their primary customers, they may not want to deal with the private market for some reason. Smaller purchase quantities comes to mind. But, you'd think they could hire someone else to market and distribute.

      Like you suggest, it might be that the product wouldn't hold up too well under the scrutiny of knowledgeable customers in a competitive marketplace. The original product is intended for people who know nothing about compuerts and don't know anyone else who knows anything about computers.

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    2. Re:They are very insistent on NOT releasing it? by suggsjc · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Ahh, I've got mod points that I want to use, but I just...can't...stop...typing.

      Anyway, first marketing costs? There are people practically begging to get these devices...and even willing to pay more than the "targeted" cost of ~$100. So, if there was ever a case of a product selling itself, then this is it.

      Distribution costs are understandable. But at the same time, they have been saying that they won't take orders of less than a million (isn't that right?). So, it isn't necessarily a supply problem...that is if they could actually meet those demands. So couple that with the above paragraph and it seems like there would be at least one millionaire out there that would see this enormous opportunity to snap up a million or so of these and resell for a handsome profit.

      All of this makes me casually raise an eyebrow. There are a couple of floating thoughts. First, maybe they feel like this is a *special* project and so only *special* (read: people in 3rd world countries) should get them. Second, (which the parent mentioned) is that maybe they aren't as high quality as us *non-special* (read: spoiled developed nation brats) would demand, and therefore wouldn't even sell in the first place. Third, (my own little thought) is that there are some interesting politics happening behind closed doors.

      To the first, I say "get off your high horse" sell them at a markup and re-invest your profits in something you deem worthwhile.
      To the second, I say "don't knock it till you (or some other schmuck) tries it". There is practically no potential for loss here. If somebody wants to purchase 1 million units, take their money and run...after you give them the laptops that is.
      To the third I say, well actually I have nothing to say since I have no idea is this is the case or what is being said behind those closed doors.

      I hope this project succeeds just as much as the next (excluding Dell, HP, Intel, etc shareholders) person. But let's not count any chickens (or laptops) before they hatch.

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  2. Re:I'll buy two with ONE requirement. by Maximum+Prophet · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, yeah, I imagine, that would make the thing sell much better. A sub $200 laptop would be an excellent process control computer for simple things like temperature control, CNC, weather monitoring, etc. Having a standard, plug and play platform would be very useful. Even single board computers without monitors or power supplies can cost much more than $200.

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  3. Re:Here's an idea by Speare · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Of course they won't because a child without food or clean drinking water really gets a huge benefit out of a laptop or the support infrastructure to support it.

    I know it might blow your mind, but there really are a lot of kids who live in areas that are somewhere BETWEEN the relative wealth levels of "must buy an iPod for my dog" and "must steal more cardboard for the roof". The XO isn't going to help a kid who can't lift her malnourished bones off the hardscrabble. The XO is going to help a kid who would have to travel 10mi to the nearest well-stocked library.

    The cellphone has become a major boon for farmers in several countries-- they can call ahead and negotiate their crop's value before spending the resources to haul perishable product to an uninterested market. The XO may have other "game changing" advantages. It will only have the chance to make a difference if the rich people quit naysaying every last little nit based on their own shortsightedness.

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  4. Re:They seem firm in their patronizing pity by jamiethehutt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Otherwise I guess we can go out and buy a bunch of old used laptops for $200-400 each and put Ubuntu on them and tell OLPC to got jump in the lake.

    I want a OLPC. An old laptop will not be as compact, will not be as robust, will not have as much battery life, will not have a nippy solid state disk and will not have nearly as good a screen for reading on. The old laptop probably wont have wireless and probably wont have excellent linux support, in fact it's likely to have some compatibility problems. Also I think the OLPC, or at least the green one, looks pretty funky...

    It's a pretty clear choice for me.

  5. Hmmm by Anon-Admin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have watched the OLPC for some time. As time goes by, It seems like less of a deal. I just picked up a nice Compaq with a 15" wide screen, 512 meg of memory, 802.11 card etc. At Best Buy it was $350. By the time they get the OLPC out the door, normal low end laptops will be in the $200 range.