$100 laptop hit by price hike

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 17 Sep 2007 at 10:55

The One Laptop Per Child organisation has been forced to ramp up the cost of its "$100 laptop" to almost double the target price.

The XO, the low-cost educational laptop from the OLPC, will now cost an estimated $188 per unit. Rising component and material costs have forced several incremental price-hikes since the $100 price target was initially set.

However, the OLPC claims the $100 laptop is still an achievable target over the next year or two, due to increased economies of scale and reduced parts prices.

In a further blow, the XO has also encountered some software bugs which may delay production by more than a week. An OLPC community newsletter explained that, following network and security reviews, the code is not yet ready for production, which was due to start in October.

The XO was designed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an educational tool for developing countries. The machine includes mesh networking and a unique, open-source user-interface sitting atop a Linux-based OS.

The laptop also has a pull-string charger, meaning that it can be used in locations where there's limited or no access to electricity.

OLPC say it has commitments for at least three million machines already, but it's unclear how the price jump will affect future orders. Brazil, Libya, Thailand and Uruguay have all expressed an interest in the machines.