February 6, 1998 (TAIPEI) -- Taiwan's desktop computer makers, following a
trend in the United States, are engaged in a price war with US$1,000 PCs.
Mitac International Corp. has introduced a 200MHz Pentium MMX PC for
NT$33,900 (US$1,000).
U.S.-based Compaq Computer Corp. also recently announced plans to introduce
to the Taiwan market PCs with 166 MHz or 200MHz MMX Pentiums for less
than US$990. The move is expected to trigger a hectic price war between
domestic suppliers and importers, a war that is likely to expand to notebooks in
the second half of 1998.
According to an official of Synnex Technology International, which distributes
Mitac products, Mitac's low-priced 200MHz Pentium MMX model also includes
a PC98 ATX motherboard, 32MB RAM, a 2.1GB Ultra DMA hard disk, a
15-in. monitor and a 24x CD-ROM drive. The only item missing is a modem.
In addition, Mitac also offers PCs equipped with 166MHz and 233MHz Pentium
MMX processors. These products sell for NT$32,900 and NT$36,400,
respectively. Other specifications are the same as those of the 200MHz Pentium
MMX model.
Industry sources said inclusion of a modem would push the prices of Mitac's
products sharply higher. They estimate, for instance, that installing just the very
basic 33.6k modem in the 166MHz Pentium MMX would push the price of that
model up to more than NT$34,000.
(Commercial Times, Taiwan) |
