Quanta to sell "$100 laptop" in developed world for $200

A modified version of so-called $100 laptop developed by Nicholas Negroponte for kids in Africa, Asia and Latin America, will get sold in developed nations too, according to an article in the Financial Times.

“We will definitely at the right time launch a commercialised product similar to the OLPC," Michael Wang, president of Quanta, told the publication. “There are a lot of poor people in developed countries, too."

Quanta is the Taiwanese contract manufacturing giant that has agreed to make the XO, the cheap laptop that came out of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization.

The version for developed nations will sell for around $200. Although often billed as a $100 laptop, the device initially wills sell for around $150. The laptops in these countries won't be bought by consumers, but school districts and government officials. OLPC is hoping that developed nations will help subsidize the cost of these devices.

Intel, Via and other PC and chip companies, meanwhile, are crafting alternatives that are more similar to standard PCs. The cost of these devices comes to around $250, but the companies say that using standard technologies and components along with local software developers and PC makers will make the PCs easier to adopt.