Samsung to swap Intel for AMD in next UMPC?

Desperate to get the price down, a company insider claims

Samsung's second-generation ultra-mobile PC will drop the current model's Intel chippery in favour of cheaper AMD silicon, according to a company insider. Samsung hopes a much lower price will kick-start the UMPC market this autumn.

According to a Korea Times report, which cites an unnamed "Samsung official", the use of an AMD CPU, along with subsidies from Korea Telecom (KT), will knock the Q1 UMPC's currency price of around KRW1.2m ($1,337) down to KRW700,000 ($780).

KT's input will apparently come though the incorporation of WiBro, South Korea's local wireless broadband technology, in the second-generation Q1. The implication is that KT will offer the handheld machine at a lower price to consumers who take out a WiBro subscription.

"Samsung is negotiating with KT about receiving subsidies for WiBro users. If the deal is completed, the price of the UMPC can go down under 700,000 won," the Samsung official told the paper.

The forecasted price puts the machine in the same price bracket as a low-end laptop in the Korean market, the paper said.

Our testing of the Q1 suggests to us that Samsung also needs to tackle the machine's battery life and control system. Microsoft needs to take a look at making its Windows XP Tablet Edition OS more suitable for a handheld consumer device, too. Watch this space for our full evaluation of the Samsung UMPC. ®