Intel Investors - Why AMD ain't cutting it in the Low End.
Looks like Intel is the preferred vendor in the sub $200 PC market segment !
The iToaster, which will ship beginning July 1, includes an Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC - news) Pentium II 266 megahertz processor,
Intel must have found a home for some VERY OLD 266 MHz Pentium IIs !
Looks like AMD may be TOAST !
Paul
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dailynews.yahoo.com
Friday June 25 1:00 AM ET
Company Hopes $199 PCs Will Draw New 'Net Users
By Martin Wolk
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microworkz.com made a splash this year by selling the first $299 personal computers, and now the company is lowering the ante by offering a $199 box.
But cheap computers are just a foot in the door, according to the founder of the rapidly growing company, who said his real goal is to make money by providing customers an Internet connection and taking a share of any online commerce revenues.
''We are morphing ourselves from hardware to software,'' said President and Chief Executive Officer Rick Latman. ''Where we don't want to be is in the rat's nest of $400 PCs for the rest of our careers.''
A novel twist is that the company's latest product, the $199 iToaster, eschews Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) market-dominating Windows operating system in favor of a custom-built interface based partly on the rival Linux system.
Microworkz continues to offer a range of Windows-based personal computers including the WEBzter line priced at $299 and up, but for the new model the company wanted a simpler interface that might draw in novices, Latman said.
Microsoft's famously stringent licensing standards prevented Microworkz from creating the customized computer desktop it wanted, with about a dozen button-like icons leading to the Internet, built-in applications and sites run by partners like Amazon.com Inc., eBay Inc. and RealNetworks Inc. (Nasdaq:RNWK - news) .
''I don't think Microsoft is very happy we're doing this,'' Latman said. ''I don't care. The bottom line is this is good for the consumer. This addresses a void in the computer market.''
Analysts are not so sure, wondering whether a $199 non-Windows computer will find a market in a world where Windows machines are available for just a bit more at retail stores or for free through advertiser-supported promotions.
''The reality is that we've seen nothing that indicates this is what people are waiting for,'' said Harry Fenik, vice president of analysis at Zona Research. ''There has not been a crying need for isolated, proprietary computers.''
Latman said the iToaster will appeal to novice users who want to get on the Internet quickly and to experienced users who want an extra machine. He said he would not rule out cutting the price further if needed to achieve the company's main goal of accumulating Internet-using customers.
''We will do credit lines, we will do leases. As it gets closer to Christmas I don't rule anything out,'' he said. ''Obviously the goal here is to get eyeballs.''
The company has plans for additional low-price computers including laptop and hand-held models, he said.
The iToaster, which will ship beginning July 1, includes an Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC - news) Pentium II 266 megahertz processor, 2.1 gigabyte hard drive and 32 megabytes of memory. There are no slots for diskettes or CD-ROMs in the sealed black box, although external drives can be added. A matching monitor is $139 extra.
Users who turn the computer on and plug in a phone line will be taken to the Microworkz Web site, where they can activate a prearranged Internet account for $19.95 a month. They will not have the option of switching to a different Internet service provider.
Microworkz initially will limit orders to 10,000 computers to prevent a repeat of the company's disastrous response to a flood of orders for its heavily publicized WEBzter, launched in March when it had just 39 employees in tiny Seattle offices.
''The Webzter was a nightmare,'' Latman said. ''We took more orders than I think anyone could have produced.''
Many customers waited weeks for their computer, and some demanded their money back, although Latman says the company eventually caught up. Now its 200 employees are housed in a spacious office and assembly plant in a Seattle suburb, with plans to expand into another building next door.
And Latman, a 30-something former Merrill Lynch bond trader who founded the company in 1991 and originally sold software to bridal stores, has lined up Japanese manufacturers for a possible distribution deal with CompUSA Inc. .
As to whether the company plans to go public, Latman declined to comment. But one can only speculate, given that the company recently changed its name from Microworkz Computer Corp. to Microworkz.com. |
