Best Buy? Newegg? So Says ASUS President of Sales!
October 11th, 2007 by antIt looks like we might actually see the Eee PC on brick and mortar store shelves and traditional internet retailers, according to this article from Reuters. Specifically, it states:
“In the United States, the company plans to sell the low-cost laptops through channels such as Best Buy and Web-based retailer Newegg.com”
Some of the other highlights:
- ASUS has received an order for 1,000,000 Eee PCs by one customer for an emerging market
- Will market Eee PC in China this year or next year
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October 12th, 2007 at 2:40 am
I read the article. It is nothing more than broad speculation. Yes, of course the unit will be sold out of Best Buy or stores like it. Newegg.com is a stretch but possible. Bottom line there is no new information on the horizon. I just hope early November is still a possibility but I ain’t holdin’ my breath.
Also, did anyone notice that the eeeuser.com website went down for almost 2 days?
October 12th, 2007 at 6:40 am
Hmm, this isn’t getting any better. I can’t help but think that there is some pretty clever marketing plan behind this. Firstly draw as many customers (and attention) as possible but quoting (I know nothing has been promised) a low affordable price and a release date that’s not too far off. Once you are there, increase the price and lengthen the release date. The higher and further these get the less interested I am. I don’t know where the tipping point is, but I am not far away…Asus don’t let us down.
I still think there is a bit of a missed trick here though, how’s about this for a purchase model. What if mobile phone companies sold it with a contract for the 3G mobile internet? Top end phones (smartphones mainly)currently cost MORE than the EEE PC, it’s the contract that subsidizes the initial purchase and so lowers the price. So from a business sense whether its a phone or a UMPC, its should not make a lot of difference. After 12 (or even 18) months the PC is yours and you are free to take the contract anywhere (or ditch it altogether). I think there is a market for this, and in truth some people would get the contract and never use the 3G element. This is where money can be made, as they are paying for a service they are not using (from the phone companies perspective). From your perspective you have a PC that you pay £10-15 a month for. Just a thought.
October 12th, 2007 at 8:07 am
Top level Smartphone have batteries that dure more then 2 or 3 hours
October 12th, 2007 at 9:18 am
RE:fabio, thanks for the reply. I hadn’t really though about it like that.
Of course smartphones have longer battery life than the EEE PC, but it’s not a phone and its not supposed to be either (I sure wish it did though!).
We all currently have a pretty narrow range of options when it comes to purchasing PCs, and maybe it’s time to think again about how it is done.
Go into a shop (online or bricks and mortar) and say/order “That PC please”, play money, leave, PC is yours.
There are a few leasing options if you look hard, but I think with the degree of built in redundancy (not forgetting Moores Law too), leasing a PC is a bit of a non-starter.
This PC is not expensive by any means, but I just wonder if there are other ways to do things?
If Asus can pull it off properly the EEE PC is a whole new ball game. It’s being marketed at schoolkids at the moment(!), but I travel about 1000 miles a month (sometimes more) on a train and I am tired (literally!) of lumping my 15.4 inch Windows laptop around. A small, light and affordable(non-Windows) option like the EEE PC really solves a lot of my problems. If the 3G module can be made to work (phone company contracts, software compatibility etc), then it solves problems I didn’t know I even had. For the price of the thing, it’s more like a mobile phone than PC.
Instead of a mobile phone contract, you would have a mobile internet contract run on a 3G network.
Well that’s my 2 cents, what does anyone else think?
October 12th, 2007 at 11:07 am
Its not a phone. You can’t compare this to a phone.
October 12th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I think that it will have 3G phone options in the future is what these people are talking about. Also it has a pcmcia slot for a already existing 3g network useage? I know linux and Spring 3g work easily so I am exited about this lightweight low cost laptop.
October 12th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Although obviously not a phone, Mat Sci Guy did present another possible avenue for marketing the device (not that it needs another one) as a 3G enabled laptop alongside existing cellular coverage.
However, it won’t matter to me too much. I already have verizon 3G usb card for my computer.
With regards to Asus and their release date, I have said it before in these forums as well. Asus is continually moving the release date so they can keep raising the price. Expect to pay at least $300-350 for the base model and over $450 for the higher end models by the time they are available. Trust me!
October 12th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
3G IS ALWAYS AN OPTION ONCE LINUX GETS THE DRIVERS FOR IT. THE UNIT HAS A MINI PCI EXPRESS SLOT FROM THE LOOKS OF IT. YOU CAN PURCHASE A INTERNAL CARD FOR IT FROM DELL. BUT ITS ONLY GOING TO ADD ANOTHER $150 TO THE PRICE POINT. BESIDES I THINK THERE WORKING ON THAT FOR GENERATION 2