Taiwan Pentium 4 PC market opening up
digitimes.com
IR=N&ClassID=200&datePublish=2001/06/18&pages=02&seq=2
Taiwan Pentium 4 PC market opening up
Walson Hu, Taipei; Liu Yi-fang, DigiTimes.com [Tuesday 19 June 2001]
Following Intel distributors Genuine and Synnex launching their own-brand Pentium 4 desktops and Intel’s own intense marketing promotion, Taiwan’s Pentium 4 market is gradually opening up. Taiwanese branded system vendors, who were once hesitant about rolling out Pentium 4-based products, are increasingly interested in the Pentium 4.
In light of the economic downturn, for a high-price item such as a PC, pricing most strongly influences consumers’ willingness to buy. When the Pentium 4 was first unveiled earlier this year, given the high unit price, RDRAM memory requirement, low availability of components like motherboards and power supplies and high Pentium III inventories, very few vendors were willing to unveil Pentium 4-based PCs.
Despite local branded system manufacturers’ lukewarm attitudes, in addition to launching a series of marketing and promotion campaigns, Intel strived to seek cooperation with branded channels. Intel distributors Genuine and Synnex, boasting the advantage of owning their own-brand desktops, have unveiled Pentium 4 PCs.
After half a year’s negotiation, Intel has finally obtained Acer’s support to roll out Pentium 4 PCs. Moreover, Tiny of the UK and branded channel Tomorrow World have also joined the ranks. More and more clone PCs in the retail market are now adopting the Pentium 4, with 1.3 and 1.4GHz models being the most popular.
Motherboard prices which have plunged to less than NT$6,000 from an initial NT$10,000 are contributing to continuously plummeting Pentium 4 PC prices. Declining Pentium 4 chip prices are another factor. A 1.3GHz Pentium 4 chip and 128MB of RDRAM together cost less than NT$9,000 in the retail market. So far, Pentium 4 PC prices have fallen from about NT$70,000 to NT$35,000, though exact prices depend on brands and peripheral specifications. |
