Taipei, July 16, 2008 (CENS)--After contracting Compal Electronics Inc. for consumer-type low-priced notebook PCs, the U.S.-based Dell Computer is said to have ordered from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. business-type NBs on OEM (original equipment manufacturer) basis.

Dell`s business-type NBs supplied by Hon Hai will be introduced worldwide by the end of this year or early 2009, hence reinforcing Hon Hai`s strength in the NB contract manufacturing field.

Dell will likely venture into consumer-type low-priced NB segment with its debut of the E-series NBs at the unit price of US$299, which are contract manufactured by Compal, by the end of August this year. The E-series model is priced US$100 per unit lower than Acer Inc.`s compared model-the Aspire One.

Compared to other first-tier PC manufacturers worldwide, Dell is the most prudent in introducing low-priced products. For instance, soon after Asustek Computer launched Eee PC, Hewlett Packard debuted mini note-series low-price PCs in April. Acer launched the Aspire One-series products in June to tap the low-price PC market.

An industry insider estimated Dell would be able to ship two million units of E-series low-priced NBs this year. The E-series NBs adopt Intel`s Atom microprocessors, with other features including 8.9-inch TFT-LCD (thin film transistor-liquid crystal display) monitors, 4G SSD hard drive and 512MB memory chips.

(by Ben Shen)