Computer Tablet Bid 'Winner' Offers US$81 Per Unit: Thailand

[webfact]

POST-ELECTION PROMISE

Tablet bid 'winner' offers $81 per unit

Asina Pornwasin,

Supinda na Mahachai

The Nation

Cabinet expected to name Shenzhen Scope over three other Chinese firms

BANGKOK: -- The Cabinet is expected to name the Chinese supplier for the One Tablet Per Child (OTPC) project today, with Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development Co tipped to win the order of up to 900,000 devices after it quoted the lowest price.

"It has offered to sell us tablets at just US$81 per unit, or about Bt2,400, excluding transportation costs," Information and Communications Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap said yesterday after a meeting of the OTPC committee.

The three other bidders - TCL Corporation, Haier Information Technology (Shenzhen) Co and Huawei Technology Co - asked for $89, $103 and $135 per tablet computer.

The Foreign Ministry negotiated with China for the procurement. Based on the terms of reference, the Chinese government recommended the four vendors, Anudith said.

"Our team then flew to China to check their facilities," he said.

The OTPC committee marked Shenzhen Scope as the No 1 choice, followed by TCL, Haier and Huawei, he said.

Anudith said he plans to ask the Cabinet to approve the purchase of tablets from Shenzhen Scope today.

"After we get the Cabinet's approval, we will work on drafting the contract," he said.

The contract should be signed next week and then all the tablets must be delivered in the next 90 days, he said.

Shenzhen Scope also offered a two-year warranty, he said, adding that its plant can churn out 24,000 tablets a day.

"The tablets can be delivered to us in several instalments, not necessarily in one big lot," he said.

The Education Ministry plans to hand out tablets to all 860,000 Pathom-1 students, but Anudith said the government would buy 900,000 tablets to ensure there are spares if some malfunction.

The government has approved an initial Bt1.8 billion for OTPC but will need to allocate an additional budget soon.

Parinya Sirisarakarn, a member of the National Human Rights Commission, questioned the government's plan to buy tablets from China, saying he was worried about product quality and whether the government had already prepared facilities for the use of tablets at schools.

"If your classroom has 50 students, it must have 50 electric outlets," he said.

Panuwat Khantamoleekul, managing director of Supreme Distribution (Thailand), a local PC maker, said the government must be careful about its choice of manufacturer.

"We won't know much about product quality and after-sales service of the brand, which has never been marketed in our country before," he said.

He did not agree with the government's decision to opt for the obscure brand.

"If we go for a little-known brand, we will face many risks," he said.

If the quality was poor, Thai students would lose learning opportunities, Panuwat said.

"But if it comes with good quality and at such a competitive price, this deal of course is good," he said.

Shenzhen Scope, which sells tablets under the Scopad brand, is a professional TV and multimedia display manufacturer with 19 years' experience in exporting. It has built up a system of independent research and development centres. Its business ranges from LCD/LED TVs, plasma TVs and advertisement players to kiosks, interactive e-learning boards and personal tablet PCs.

-- The Nation 2012-03-06

related:

Plan to give MPs iPADs and smart phones comes under fire

http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__5111451

[tominbkk]

They are going to be one big load of dog dooty. All broken within 6 months, and no way to fix them.

[ozzieman05]

when will people learn, that the cheapest is not always the best choice

I remember once we had to order 10,000 pairs of sandles, and the sample was so bad it fell apart in 1 day of testing

when we talked to the chinese manufactures, they told us we make to meet the price

4 months later we took delivery of a high quality product from the same manufacturer, they cost 125 baht more the the origional cost

The cheapest price is normally always the cheapest way to manufacture

As far as warranty is concerned, their is none, we got 10% more stock to cover and warranty

[johna]

These tablets should be made in Thailand.

[chooka]

I avoid anything made in China ever since I purchased that authentic (made in China) Aussie boomerang from a souvenir shop in Melbourne, the bloody thing never came back. Buyer beware on Chinese manufactured goods anyone remember the baby formular incident? If they can't get thier food products rights I wouldn't trust thier technology. (my Grandfather is Chinese)

Edited March 6, 2012 by chooka

[Reasonableman]

Chooka old moit, that boomerang was designed not to come back. Its best feature. An Ozzie buying a Chinese boomerang. Thanks for the belly laugh!!

[ozzieman05]

I avoid anything made in China ever since I purchased that authentic (made in China) Aussie boomerang from a souvenir shop in Melbourne, the bloody thing never came back. Buyer beware on Chinese manufactured goods anyone remember the baby formular incident? If they can't get thier food products rights I wouldn't trust thier technology. (my Grandfather is Chinese)

Ha ha, Chinese boomerangs are made so cheap they not need come back, you just buy 10 and throw away

Pay Australian made price and they better come back, can't afford to throw that much money away

[supersombat]

We need better teachers not cheap Chinese made tablets.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

[Soupdragon]

Do the tablets come with a magic marker so at least you can use them as whiteboards when they fail.

[OzMick]

I avoid anything made in China ever since I purchased that authentic (made in China) Aussie boomerang from a souvenir shop in Melbourne, the bloody thing never came back. Buyer beware on Chinese manufactured goods anyone remember the baby formular incident? If they can't get thier food products rights I wouldn't trust thier technology. (my Grandfather is Chinese)

Aboriginals have a name for a boomerang that won't come back - they call it a "stick".

[OzMick]

Look at those amazing tablets. 200 years ago they had to do the same thing with a piece of slate and a stick of chalk.

[Orac]

Look at those amazing tablets. 200 years ago they had to do the same thing with a piece of slate and a stick of chalk.

I bet people were complaining then that they didn't need them when there were perfectly good cave walls to draw on with a bit of animal blood.

[saengsureeya]

THB 2,200,000,000 for this project which only contains 900,000 tablets.

What about power outlets to charge them during the day?

What about proper wifi-facilities at schools to use the tablets optimally? At least a wireless-intranet at school would be advisable.

Without the above, the tablets will only be used as a game-console.

[aussiebebe]

I'm impressed; a political party actually keeps a pre-election promise.

[gosompoi]

These tablets should be made in Thailand.

impossible

[IAMHERE]

We need better teachers not cheap Chinese made tablets.

Would be a waste until you get better students. When students don't care to learn then they aren't going to learn. Even with a computer they still won't bother to work at learning.

[animatic]

Hello knocvk knock, awake in there.

It always should be :

Best unit for the money,

not best price any unit.

[Katipo]

In a country where gross bueracratic incompetence is expected when handing even the most straight forward of affairs.....

........well, I'll leave it at that. I think you all know what comes next.

[belg]

mp's get the high end ipads + iphones and kids in school get a worthless unnamed chinese rippoff

way to go thai education

[FOODLOVER]

http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/india-create-a-30-tablet-pc-for-students-20100723/

Would this work?

[lucjoker]

i can buy "good" tablet pc's for less !

Look on "allibaba.com" or Tao Bao.com then you will see real prices

as low as 40 $ foor reasonally good U-pads,Z-pads.........not even a coppy !

The components come from Thailand.

[OzMick]

Look at those amazing tablets. 200 years ago they had to do the same thing with a piece of slate and a stick of chalk.

I bet people were complaining then that they didn't need them when there were perfectly good cave walls to draw on with a bit of animal blood.

Possibly, but in a year most Thai students will be back to paper and pencil, if they ever make a change in the meantime.

[Scorpio1949]

Indeed looking at Alibaba.Com makes it easy to find tablets that are 100% according what the Thai government is looking for for lower prices and even the brands that are in the competition ! Is this also a way to make some money disappear in some pockets ??????? They cannot be that stupid that they not know this site ( and they even make profit ) so I think at the volume they want to buy there must be even on Alibaba.com discount available.

If they would be clever they could save enough to get the iPhones and iPads for the government people for free !

[Pib]

The tablets may not be junk; it may be we are just seeing what tablets "really" cost to manufacturer with some profit still built-in versus the highly inflated prices the common consumer pays after several middlemen/wholesalers add on their cost, transportation costs are added, the govt adds on import duties/taxes, and the retailer then ups the price another 30% or more. Plus, I expect the govt is not going to apply any import taxes on a its own govt purchase.

[DLock]

I am not a supporter of Yingluck and have been fairly critical of this initiative from Day 1.

But, I am also a big supporter of kids and education and reducing the gap between the have and the have nots.

These tablets wont be the best, and we all know that, but I have seen the pride these kids have in the smallest things - new books, shoes etc, and how dedicated many of the teachers are upcountry, earning very little, with minimal resources.

I think that the teachers will make the best of these tablets and do the very best they can to maximise the opportunity. I remember when I was at school and touched a Mac for the first time. I still remember that magical glowing green screen.

So, while it's easy to sit back and criticize the device, the lack of a cohesive plan and Yingluck, I think that this will work on some level and it will be the individual teachers that make it happen.

I remain optimistic.

[wpcoe]

Hey, don't knock tablets. The seemed to work for Moses.

[webfact]

Scope wins tablet PC bid at THB2,400

BANGKOK, 6 March 2012 (NNT) - The committee overseeing the purchase of tablet computers has agreed to acquire the electronic device from Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development Co. Ltd., which proposed the lowest price of 2,400 baht.

Information and Communications Technology Minister Gp. Capt. Anudith Nakornthap has revealed that the committee, headed by Education Minister Suchart Thadathamrongwate (สุชาติ ธาดาธำรงเวช), has chosen to acquire the tablet PCs on a government-to-government (G2G) basis from Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development Co. Ltd.

Once the contract is signed, the company will have to produce and provide the tablets within three months. The products are expected to be delivered to Thailand in time for the start of the new school year in May.

The Chinese government had previously proposed four tablet PC manufacturers who met the Thai government's specifications, including Huawei, TCL, Haier and Scope. Among the four candidates, Scope proposed the lowest price at THB2,400. The committee also traveled to China during 3-4 March to study the details of these companies before opting to make the purchase from Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development Co. Ltd. The decision will be proposed to the cabinet for approval during today's session.

The acquisition of 860,000 tablet PCs requires an initial budget of 1.9 billion baht, which may be increased as deemed fit. The specifications set by the Thai government include a seven-inch touch screen, 1024x768 pixel resolution, 16-gigabyte memory and 1GHz Dual Core CPU. The tablets must also operate under the Android 3.2 or Linux Kernel 2.6.36 system and support Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and Linux Kernel 3.0.1.

-- NNT 2012-03-06

[Wavefloater]

We need better teachers not cheap Chinese made tablets.

Would be a waste until you get better students. When students don't care to learn then they aren't going to learn. Even with a computer they still won't bother to work at learning.

I'd say that you're putting the cart before the horse. Good teachers motivate students to do good work.

BTW, where do plan to get the good students? Buy them from China? Maybe they can do a "Buy One - Get One Free" promotion. Get one good student with each tablet PC purchase.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Wavefloater

[FOODLOVER]

Hey, don't knock tablets. The seemed to work for Moses.

Not quite. A third of them broke, leaving us with ten commandments.

[softgeorge]

I avoid anything made in China ever since I purchased that authentic (made in China) Aussie boomerang from a souvenir shop in Melbourne, the bloody thing never came back. Buyer beware on Chinese manufactured goods anyone remember the baby formular incident? If they can't get thier food products rights I wouldn't trust thier technology. (my Grandfather is Chinese)

Did you try throwing it?