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.