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| Hewlett-Packard (HP) plans to launch notebooks priced below NT$20,000 (US$627) in Taiwan later this year in order to defend its share from the market leaders, Asustek Computer and Acer. Dennis Chen, general manager of HP Taiwan’s Personal Systems Group, said yesterday his company does not mean to start a price war, but low-cost notebooks are already a market trend. Chen did not reveal the specifications of the HP low-cost notebooks. Acer questioned the possibility of HP making a profit from selling under-NT$20,000 (US$627) notebooks, and suggested the products may be marketed in limited supply or without operating systems. Notebook makers said other brand-name vendors are unlikely to follow HP’s low-price strategy, which will dent the profits for both the vendors and their contract makers. Prices for key components for notebooks are expected to rise soon, making the under-NT$20,000 (US$627) price range even more unlikely to become the mainstream, the notebook makers said. Asustek and Acer together had 56% of the Taiwan notebook market in the first quarter of this year. |
