A new low cost Chromebook war is set to break out in Australia with the likes of Toshiba and Hewlett Packard set to come under pressure from a new generation of Chromebooks priced at sub $200.
Lenovo and ASUS are set to release Chromebooks using Google-certified processors from China-based Rockchip in the first half of 2015.
Currently Toshiba and Hewlett Packard Chrombook’s are selling for $398 at JB Hi Fi.
Rockchip is a first-tier tablet application processor (AP) designer in China and has recently cooperated with Intel over chip design and the distribution of Intel’s SoFIA chips.
In October 2014, Lenovo announced a 10.1-inch Android notebook using Rockchip’s RK3188 processor.
Digitimes Research estimates that Lenovo’s RK3288-based 11.6-inch Chromebook will become available in the market at the end of 2014 at the earliest or in the first half of 2015, this will be followed by a low cost offering from Asustek who is currently working on an 11.6-inch Chromebook due to be released in 2015.
ChannelNews understands that several Australian education departments are interested in the low cost Chromebook offering.
Digitimes Research said that the new price point will further reduce notebooks’ ASPs and also put strong pressure on Microsoft, which launched an inexpensive licensing project in 2014, looking to halt Chromebook development.
