Google Chromebooks can get cheaper thanks to new support for a cheaper low-end microchip

[froggyboy604]

You can pick up a Chromebook for a dirt-cheap $200, if you know where to shop. However, there are now signs that these Google-powered portables could get even cheaper. MediaTek has contributed code to Chromium OS (the base for Chrome OS) for a test device with an entry-level ARM Cortex-A7 processor -- a big step down from the relatively inexpensive Cortex-A15/A7 hybrid that Samsung uses, not to mention the Intel Celeron chips in other Chrome devices. Theoretically, this leads to Chromebooks and Chromeboxes that cost significantly less than $200, albeit after a big speed hit. Just as with phones and tablets, a Cortex-A7 system is likely to be pretty sluggish.

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I wonder if this could mean there would soon be Google Chromebooks in the $80-150 price like Google Android laptops on eBay which sell for $80-150.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

so long as it don't break easier.

 

[Baz]

If  they can get it down  to stupidly low prices you know they'll easily get a higher market share.

 

[froggyboy604]

I bet a lot of companies who will make the cheaper Chromebook will sell them for a very cheap price like $100-150 or less, and make a few dollars in profit per laptop, but end up making many thousands to millions of dollars from selling as many devices as possible in a few months to a year.

I also bet that some internet service providers like Google Fiber will give away Chromebooks to new subscribers who sign a 2 year contract like how Cell phone companies giveaway  cheap smartphones when you sign 2-3 year contracts.