Low Cost PCs....The March Continues

A few days ago in The March of the Low Cost PC we noted how Quanta had won an order from Sony for low cost PCs. We also commented how the advent of the lost cost PC caught everyone off guard.

Yesterday the Taiwan based research firm Market Intellingence Center (MIC) predicted the sales of low cost PCs in 2009 would increase by 128%, from 8 million units in 2008 to 18.3 million units in 2009. According to MIC:

According to MIC (Market Intelligence Center, Taiwan), an ICT industry research institute based in Taipei, worldwide low-price mini notebook PC shipment is expected to reach 8.02 million units in 2008. In 2009 shipment volume is forecasted to reach a scale of 18.3 million units, growing 128% annually.

According to MIC Senior Industry Analyst Chris Wei, "the low-price mini notebook PC market was dominated by the Asus Eee PC in the first half of 2008. Acer rolled out the Aspire One notebook PC which is very competitive on price, and Acer has shown an aggressive attitude towards developing the low-price mini notebook PC market. In the second half of 2008 price competition is expected to emerge in the market, and product specifications could be improved by vendors in order to better compete in the market. Consumers will be the beneficiaries of these developments."

Yesterday CNET added to the low cost PC buzz by showing some leaked slides from ASUS suggesting ASUS will develop a family of 23 Eee PCs. According to CNET:

Are you a travel explorer, an editor, or student? Then does ASUS have the Eee PC for you! According to this slide image taken by Engadget Chinese, it looks like ASUS will soon have a total of 23 differently configured models of the widely known Eee PC Netbook series--this includes previously released models, as well as "coming soon," and "who knows when."

And yesterday Digitimes reported Synnex will also join the low cost PC (netbook) fray with their Lemel Q PC Smart deluxe nettop. This will be in direct competition with ASUS's Eee PC and the Wind PC from MSI. Digitimes writes:

Synnex's upcoming 3-liter Lemel Q PC Smart deluxe nettop is based on the Intel Atom 230 processor and priced around NT$13,900 (US$455.7). The nettop will also be offered bundled with a 19-inch LCD monitor for NT$18,888.

This market is growing fast. More and more competitors are jumping into the fray. It seems there is also a lot of growth potential in the sector and that the companies currently in the game will be able to continue to have high margins for a while. Price competition in the future will drive the margins down but at least for now, some PC manufacturers in Taiwan are smiling!

Market Intelligence Center: Global Low-price Mini Notebook PC Shipment Forecast to Reach 8.02 Mln Units in '08, According to MIC
CNET: And the Eee PC hits just keep comin'...
Digitimes: Taiwan market: Asustek, MSI and Synnex to enter nettop war in August