Dell's new low-cost PCs for emerging markets
PC maker continues its international push with notebooks and desktops made for such countries as China and India.
As promised, Dell unveiled several new computers Wednesday made specifically for emerging PC markets like China and India.
There are four new models in all under the Vostro line--two laptops and two desktops. The notebooks will start at $475, and the desktops at $440, and will be available in more than 20 countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Europe.
The notebooks are available in 14.1-inch and 15.6-inch sizes, and come with Intel Celeron or Core2Duo processors, and Ubuntu Linux or Windows Vista. The desktops come with Intel Atom, Celeron, or Pentium processors, and Ubuntu or Vista.
Dell says there will be more Vostro products for these markets released in the next few months.
This looks to be the beginning of the company's promised push into two of the fastest-growing PC markets in the world. After establishing a retail presence in both China and India in the last year, Michael Dell said in March that while growth in the U.S. market for PCs would be "OK," Asian markets would grow more.
Dell has traditionally derived the majority of its business here in the U.S., but for the first time ever its international business ticked above 50 percent of the company's total last quarter.
But looking abroad for a boost is a strategy that Dell's not alone in pursuing. Chief rival Hewlett-Packard has been doing a bang-up business for a while now in China, which is the home turf of another PC heavyweight, Lenovo.
We'll see Thursday how effective the retail push into Asia has been for Dell, when it's due to report its second-quarter earnings.