Apkomindo to start rolling out inexpensive PCs

Apkomindo to start rolling out inexpensive PCs

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Computer Business Association (Apkomindo) will
begin providing low-priced personal computers (PCs) this month as
part of a program aimed at helping to increase computer sales and
Internet access in the country.

Apkomindo chairman G. Hidayat Tjokrodjojo said the association
was currently in the process of determining the specifications of
the PCs and the distribution scheme.

"We are still in the final process of selecting which hardware
and software to use on the PCs and how to distribute them, but we
hope they will be available this April," Hidayat Tjokrodjojo told
The Jakarta Post recently, while mentioning such options as using
the less-expensive Intel Celeron processor and the free GNU/Linux
operating system.

Apkomindo's program, called the PC Ownership Initiative
(PCOI), was launched earlier this year to provide more affordable
PCs for the public -- about half the current market price of
between Rp 3 million ($353) and Rp 4 million per computer.

The association achieves the low prices by getting its members
to channel a portion of their annual promotion budgets to the
program. The association also established a National Computer
Producers Forum (FPKN) to further coordinate and manage the
program.

The government has welcomed the program, which is in line with
its efforts to increase the country's PC ownership and Internet
access -- both of which currently stand at only about 4 percent
of the population -- as mandated by the recent World Summit on
the Information Society (WSIS).

The WSIS is a global forum organized by the United Nations and
the International Telecommunications Union to narrow the Internet
access gap between developing and developed countries. At its
meeting last December in Geneva, it the forum set several
targets, including that each country reach an Internet access
rate of over 50 percent by 2015.

The PCOI is also expected to boost PC sales in the country,
which Apkomindo has targeted at one million units this year, from
750,000 last year.

"We are expecting an annual sales of 100,000 to 250,000 of the
low-priced PCs," Hidayat said.

Hidayat, however, said the program was only intended for those
segments of society that needed PCs but could not afford them,
such as foundations, civil society organizations, small and
medium enterprises and local administrations.

The FPKN said it would strictly monitor and limit the
distribution of the PCs to ensure they did not drive down prices
in the market.

"We do not want these subsidized PCs to be misused by those
who already have a PC or who can actually afford a normally
priced one, or by those who just want to resell them," he said,
adding that the PCs would therefore probably not be sold in
Jakarta.

Hidayat also asked for support from the government, including
tax incentives for the PCs and help in distributing them through
regional government-owned cooperations.

The PCOI is similar to Malaysia's recent, government-initiated
"Excellent PC" (PC Gemilang) program. PCs offered through the
program all sport a 1.7GHz Intel Celeron processor, 128MB of
memory, a 40GB hard drive, a 15-inch monitor and standard
peripherals, including a 56kbps modem, and cost only $260 if
using the GNU/Linux operating system and $302 if using Microsoft
Windows XP.