“£7 laptop” turns out to be nothing of the sort

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 5 Feb 2009 at 08:50

Claims that the Indian Government was set to launch a laptop costing only £7 have turned out to be a red herring.

The much-hyped device Sakshat device set the world's media - including PC Pro - alight, after Indian Government officials suggested the laptop would cost around $10.

The problem is the device isn't actually a laptop after all. And it costs more than $10.

The Sakshat is in fact a network storage hub/access point, that has to connect to a PC to be truly useful. It has a mere 2GB capacity and will cost around $30 (£20) at launch.

It isn't clear how the device came to be portrayed as a fully-fledged laptop, with theories ranging from details being lost in translation to an outright publicity stunt. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

The news means netbook manufacturers can sleep easier in their beds tonight. Even the likes of Asus would struggle to make money on a laptop that costs less than the box it ships in.