Dell's new low-cost PCs for emerging markets
As promised, Dell unveiled several new computers Wednesday made specifically for emerging PC markets like China and India.
There are four new models in all under the Vostro line--two laptops and two desktops. The notebooks will start at $475, and the desktops at $440, and will be available in more than 20 countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Europe.
New Vostro notebooks from Dell made for emerging markets.
(Credit: Dell)The notebooks are available in 14.1-inch and 15.6-inch sizes, and come with Intel Celeron or Core2Duo processors, and Ubuntu Linux or Windows Vista. The desktops come with Intel Atom, Celeron, or Pentium processors, and Ubuntu or Vista.
Dell says there will be more Vostro products for these markets released in the next few months.
This looks to be the beginning of the company's promised push into two of the fastest-growing PC markets in the world. After establishing a retail presence in both China and India in the last year, Michael Dell said in March that while growth in the U.S. market for PCs would be "OK," Asian markets would grow more.
Dell has traditionally derived the majority of its business here in the U.S., but for the first time ever its international business ticked above 50 percent of the company's total last quarter.
But looking abroad for a boost is a strategy that Dell's not alone in pursuing. Chief rival Hewlett-Packard has been doing a bang-up business for a while now in China, which is the home turf of another PC heavyweight, Lenovo.
We'll see Thursday how effective the retail push into Asia has been for Dell, when it's due to report its second-quarter earnings.
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur. E-mail Erica. 
it's not hard to find Celerons more expensive than Athlons 64 around here
and about the article, isn't the Atom CPU for laptops, not desktops?
and because of taxes, those $440 laptops will get here at around R$1800($1000), that isn't much lower than current models i can find in stores
You're still stuck with a terrible Windows OS.
"The notebooks are available in 14.1-inch and 15.6-inch sizes, and come with Intel Celeron or Core2Duo processors, and Ubuntu Linux or Windows Vista. The desktops come with Intel Atom, Celeron, or Pentium processors, and Ubuntu or Vista."
If people still take Vista when offered Linux at the same or lower cost, what does THAT tell you?
- by Porterrgurl November 20, 2008 9:29 AM PST
- How can I get a PC for just as cheap?
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