Intel sells Linux-based ‘farmer PC’ in China

I got this from an article in LXer.com that extensively quotes a so-called “Chinese Halloween” document from Intel.

In a nutshell, it says that Intel is pushing for cheap desktop PCs (costs around $350, or roughly Php20,000) in rural areas in China, and surprise, surprise, the “Farmer PC” runs on Linux.

The document, which the LXer.com claims was from an Intel intranet site, discusses the strategy the hardware giant employs in gaining ground in a potentially huge market (”a whopping 73 percent of residents say they are willing to buy one”).

Given the overall tone of the “Chinese Halloween” document, it might seem like marketing hype, but it does make for a fairly interesting read. It may even provide some insights on how to run a government-assisted PC purchase program as a way of bridging the ICT gap, specially in developing countries. Intel’s strategy to “work with governments, (and) rally the industry” is what the open source community should be aiming for, I think.

It is also an eye-opener: Intel is often linked to Microsoft as a tag-team partner (hence the term, “Wintel”) in the industry, and yet, here it is, pushing for Linux in the world’s potentially largest market for PCs!

Of course, Intel is after the bottomline. After all, “the potential is huge: (h)undreds of millions of rural Chinese citizens comprise the world’s single biggest future market for Intel processor-based PCs.”

Now, my question is: if they can do it in China, what’s stopping them from doing something similar here in the Philippines?

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