Thailand's Information and Communications Technology Ministry, which is behind the drive to increase computer ownership, is said to be in talks with Dell Computer and the Association of Thai Computer Manufacturers, among others.
Thailand's information ministry is concerned that Hewlett-Packard, the original contracted maker of the low-cost "people's notebook," may not be able to deliver units fast enough to meet demand, the Bangkok Post said.
HP is producing the low-cost "people's notebook," which is loaded with Linux TLE, the Thai-language version of the Linux operating system, to support a Thai government drive to increase computer ownership, reported the Post earlier this month. The laptop features an 800MHz Intel Celeron processor, 128MB of RAM and a 20GB hard disk, it said.
According to analysts, the Thai government expects that around 300,000 notebooks will be sold in the current phase of the program, along with another 700,000 desktop PCs. Local computer makers Belta, SVOA and Computec will make the desktop models.
The government is subsidising the cost of the hardware, and will also provide service and support for the notebook.
In addition to the bare-bones US$450 model currently on sale, the Thai government wants to offer a higher-end version that includes a CD-ROM drive for US$595 (25,000 baht), the Post report said
Research indicates that these Linux laptops have been hugely successful in Thailand. Which cements the following points:
1) That Linux desktops have come of age, and Linux desktops are now usable by average consumers
2) That using Linux can lower the cost of computing. These devides are hundreds of dollars less that their Windows equivalents.
Equivocally, we find that it is almost impossible to buy laptops from any tier-1 or tier-2 vendors in Australia for which we do not pay hundreds of dollars in Microsoft licence fees. This, even when one have zero intention of using any of the supplied software.
To my mind, this unfairly provides Microsoft with extra revenue, increases the stats of usage on their favour, and smacks of cartel-like anti-competitive bundling behaviour that the ACCC should investigate.