Computex organizers added an extra exhibition hall across town to accommodate more exhibitors this year; and the focus of the show was on Asustek's Eee PC low-cost notebooks and its followers.
This
year's show included participation from foreign and Taiwanese
exhibitors who are regularly turned away due to lack of space. Aside
from the three halls around the Taipei World Trade Center, the
organizers opened the new Nankang Exhibition Hall across town. Foreign
visitors grumbled about the 15 minute taxi ride to get there but said
that the new hall was much roomier and had better facilities than the
older venue.
Focus on UltraportablesAsustek Computer Co Ltd used Computex to roll out three new low-cost notebook Eee PCs, and devoted an entire booth to its new Eee product line which includes peripherals, accessories, as well as an LCD TV. For the core ultra low-cost PC line, Asus released three new models that run on Intel's new Atom processor. The new models have a bigger 10-inch screen as well as options for an 80GB hard disk drive (HDD) or a 40GB solid state drive (SSD). Consumers also have options to choose between Linux operating system or Windows XP.
Asustek has sold over one million Eee PCs since last October by marketing these low-cost (US$299-$549) devices as a second PC for email and Internet surfing. The Eee PC has inspired plenty of imitators in this product category, including the Intel Classmate PC by CTL, HP's Mini-Note, and other models by MSI and Gigabyte. According to Ben Liao, a product manager of Gigabyte Technology, it's getting harder to distinguish between these new ultraportable computers so companies have to try hard to differentiate.
"Aside from color design, these machines look similar and come with the same functions within the same price range," Liao said. "If you upgrade the specs you bring up the cost, then it's not an affordable laptop but a regular ultraportable."
At the higher price range, retailing for around US$649, the new Gigabyte M912 comes with a swivel touch-screen LCD and a 160GB HDD, and runs on a 1.6MHz Intel Atom chip.
Another Taiwan company, Dialogue Technology, also showcased its line of ultraportables, but at a much higher price. "We don't look at our laptops as Internet devices, but high-performance machines which people take to work and travel with," said Tomoko Taneko, a sales representative at Dialogue. Dialogue's Flybook V5 ultraportable retails for about US$2,500 and comes with an internal HSDPA modem, a touch-screen LCD, and a fingerprint reader.
SSDs also attracted attention at this year's Computex. After announcing in March that it would jump into the SSD market to compete with SanDisk, Toshiba and Samsung, Intel showcased its first PATA interface SSD and hinted that it would roll out more SSDs for the consumer electronics market in the second half of the year.
"SSDs are currently more expensive than HDDs but they offer advantages such as no moving mechanical parts, low power consumption, and faster data access," said Shawn Hsu, a marketing manager at Intel. Hsu said the prices for SSDs will go down once companies make the successful transition to multi-level cell NAND technology from single-level cell.
by Van Tran
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