X-bit labs

One Laptop Per Child Claims XO Laptop Production Start.

Category: Mobile

by Anton Shilov

[ 11/07/2007 | 02:43 PM ]

One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a non-profit organization launched in 2005 to design, manufacture and distribute laptop computers that are sufficiently affordable for developing countries and are aimed primarily at children, announced that mass production of the XO laptop computer began on Tuesday at Quanta Computer’s manufacturing facility in Changshu, China.

“Today represents an important milestone in the evolution of the One Laptop per Child project. Against all the naysayers and thanks to great partners such as Quanta, we have developed and now manufactured the world’s most advanced and greenest laptop and one designed specifically to instill a passion for learning in children,” said Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of OLPC.

Taiwan-based Quanta Computer, the world’s largest notebook computer manufacturer, has recently doubled its manufacturing capacity, in part to prepare for the production of the XO laptop from OLPC. On Tuesday, November 6, Quanta initiated production at its new plant in Changshu, Shanghai. The XO laptop unit volumes will ramp up over time, leveraging the newly available capacity in the Changshu plant.

Current OLPC XO laptop features AMD Geode LX-700 processor with 433MHz clock-speed and built-in graphics controller, 256MB of PC-2100 (DDR 266MHz) memory, 1GB NAND flash that substitutes hard disk drive, 7.5” screen with 1200x900 resolution, wireless and wired network adapters as well as integrated webcam, microphone, speakers and so on. Even though initially it was projected that the laptop will cost $100, the final price for the machine is $188.

“We are very proud to be a partner of One Laptop per Child and to start volume manufacturing of the highly innovative XO laptop,” said C.C. Leung, Vice Chairman and President of Quanta Computer. “We believe that the XO laptop will have a transformative power on the future of developing nations.”