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ASUS: Only 5% of Eee PCs use Linux

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Angus Kidman29 May 2009, 4:06 PM

The original Eee PC might have promised to bring Linux to the masses, but these days it looks like ASUS is running away from open source and towards Redmond at breathtaking speed.

At a launch event for ASUS ' latest products in Sydney this week, company officials confirmed that Linux now only has a minor role to play in the company's successful Eee PC line of netbooks.

"Linux accounts for about five per cent of our sales," Gordon Kerr, group product manager for system products, told APC.

When the original 700-series Eee was released, the Xandros distribution was the only option, and that didn't stop the machine selling in huge quantities. However, a bias towards Microsoft became apparent by the time the successor 900 series appeared, with models featuring Linux actually selling for more than their XP equivalents.

ASUS eventually altered that approach, but getting a Linux Eee generally requires ordering from a specialist seller online. Mass-market retailers — a key element in the success of the Eee, with Myer at one stage holding the exclusive rights to the machine — now invariably only stock Windows models.

Asus has come under fire this week for the It's Better With Windows web site, which features a video explaining why the Eee with Windows is a better choice since it doesn't involve "an unfamiliar environment".

Asus' anti-Linux stance might be designed to position it to deploy Windows 7 as a potential netbook platform. Having been forced to extend the lifespan of Windows XP after it became apparent that virtually no manufacturers wanted to foist Vista on the netbook market, Microsoft has more recently developed guidelines for which machines will be allowed to run an entry-level version of Windows 7.

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Tin (Senior Forumologist):

I wonder if the low sales volume of linux Eees is anything to do with the subtle detail that they aren't freakin making them available!!
I had to order an Eee 1000 from USA because they weren't sold here. Reason: Wanted the larger SSD, which was Linux only.

29 May 2009, 4:09 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Raindog (Senior Forumologist):

Quoting Tin:
the subtle detail that they aren't freakin making them available!!

That and the restrictive practice of loading Linux on under-done variants while releasing up spec-ed models as Windows only.

I still think the real problem is dumb (and at times noisy) customers who purchase Netbooks with entirely unrealistic expectation. I'll bet the Windows purchases of these types end up in the bottom of a drawer. Linux for these types was something new and different for them to blame for their own inability to grasp simple concepts.

29 May 2009, 4:37 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Your Average Joe (Regular user):

Quoting Tin:
I wonder if the low sales volume of linux Eees ........

Or it could be something as simple as Linux is an unfamiliar OS with little support and a small library of availible apps for the 'common man'.

But hey ! I don't want to start a Linux vs the rest of the world food fight ;-)

29 May 2009, 4:42 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Me In Oz (Cornerstone member):

Quoting Your Average Joe:
But hey ! I don't want to start a Linux vs the rest of the world food fight ;-)

LOL ! Watch all the flaming start ;-)

5% share is about representative of the global share for Linux !
But I suspect that the all mighty dollar is at work here. And MS is well known for this type of marketing strategy.

29 May 2009, 4:50 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Raindog (Senior Forumologist):

Quoting Me In Oz:
LOL ! Watch all the flaming start

More correctly it's setting the record straight. Education for those afraid of change. :>

Quoting Me In Oz:
5% share is about representative of the global share for Linux !

As an all over figure that's about right. Toyota held a similar amount of the Australian Market at inception, with a lot of resistance to it's their product. Time can bring about all kinds of change.

Quoting Me In Oz:
But I suspect that the all mighty dollar is at work here.

No suspect about it you are right on the money. There will be all manner of shenanigans going on with wholesale pricing. And of course hardware manufacturers will attempt to recoup the entire support cost of a new OS in the shortest time possible. It is naive for users to expect to save the full Windows sticker price of their next Linux purchase. Those figure are way over what ASUS would be paying per licence.

Quoting Me In Oz:
And MS is well known for this type of marketing strategy.

As are the hardware vendors. It's a tight market and the survivors sure know how to play the game,

29 May 2009, 5:39 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Raindog (Senior Forumologist):

Quoting Your Average Joe:
Linux is an unfamiliar OS

It's not Windows, that's agreed however many of the Linux apps (open office for example) will be very familiar to those who've been trapped in a Windows world.

Quoting Your Average Joe:
with little support

That is just plain wrong, commercial support is available, an Linux offers much more free support than is available for Windows.

Quoting Your Average Joe:
and a small library of available apps for the 'common man'.

Small library? You have to be kidding, there is a multitude of excellent and mature Linux apps available for almost any application you can think of. The only reason for remaining with Windows is for compatibility reasons in areas entrapped in proprietary formats. Autocad, Quicken and MYOB being the examples immediately coming to mind.

Oh and them shoot-em-ups that people use to fill their lives.

29 May 2009, 5:28 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Dale Tuck (New user):

Oh what did Microsoft pay you for your troll comments then?

04 June 2009, 11:50 AM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Michael J (Cornerstone member):

I would love to know just how many forum posts have started off talking about something to do with linux, and then suddenly changed to a "Linux vs the rest of the world food fight"!

29 May 2009, 5:20 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Raindog (Senior Forumologist):

Quoting Michael J:
I would love to know just how many forum posts have started off talking about something to do with linux, and then suddenly changed to a "Linux vs the rest of the world food fight"!

The answer is exactly the same number as the number of Windows vs Apple scraps.

29 May 2009, 5:42 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Michael Quinn (User):

Quoting Raindog:
The answer is exactly the same number as the number of Windows vs Apple scraps.

Yes but they end quickly as Apple is the clear and easy winner. Linux, not so much.

;)

29 May 2009, 9:36 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Raindog (Senior Forumologist):

Quoting Michael Quinn:
Yes but they end quickly

you got that wrong article from 14/11/08 last post 2 days ago.

Quoting Michael Quinn:
Apple is the clear and easy winner.

looks like you get lots wrong. There are no winners. :>

29 May 2009, 10:20 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

simongoodwin42 (New user):

Bought an eee pc from ebay because the linux version wasn't available in shops. Also ordered eee box's with linux and waited for a month, only to be told "I don't know if or when they'll come in, but we can sell you the XP version for the same price"

29 May 2009, 5:54 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Tin (Senior Forumologist):

Quoting simongoodwin42:
"I don't know if or when they'll come in, but we can sell you the XP version for the same price"

Yep... And how do they do that? Well, I guess the $1 or so OEM license fee MS charge helps. Amazing how cheap Windows can become if MS get scared it'll mean competing with something.

31 May 2009, 7:44 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Halcon (Advanced member):

This is another example of compulsive monopoly of Microsoft, fuelled by the colour of the money, Microsoft can buy the favours of all the manufacturers to side by to this conspicuous company.
Microsoft should be known as "The Borg" because its thinking is "resistance is futile" through forced "assimilation" to force all opposition into accepting Microsoft absurd and abusive conditions,
This is the blurred vision Microsoft has for its business ventures to control Mobile, PC and Netbook areas of market penetration at higher rates, if this can't be achieved, then at all costs is the ultimate gamble to get higher dividends for its shareholders.
As you see, this is as simple as A,B,C. in terms of corporate practice to get the whole picture, how pathetic!

29 May 2009, 7:40 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Sepius (New user):

Yep, I think most people have one thing correct, the low sales are attributed to low supply with Linux. I have 3 friends who all bought the XP model, because that is all they could get, and very quickly had Ubuntu on them. In fact I have not seen a 700 or 900 running XP.
Also, though, I do like to mention that Xandros is a commercial Linux distro, and provides excellent support. I think this is one reason why Asus picked Xandros over other free distro's that they would have to support. So that negates the dollars.
I'd pay the same price for a netbook running Linux next to its XP counter part, because I would still feel I am getting better value for money, and access to a lot of useful cheap programs.
By the way, I don't own one. I wont pay any more than $100 for a 700, and people are still paying around $300 for them.

29 May 2009, 10:51 PM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

todd_h86 (Cornerstone member):

Haha its funny cause I found a linux version of one and installed Windows 7! The irony makes me laugh lol!
When I bought my original 701 from Myer back in the day it also had linux on there, which i used for a couple of weeks, but considering I bought it as a small diagnostics laptop to take to jobs with me I installed XP.

I think ASUS was trying to get linux into the mainstream market but when they realised they could sell more with XP (Remember the first EEEPC was initially meant to be Linux only), but when you read that Acer sold 300% more netbooks this quarter than last quarter but their profits dropped something between 10 - 20% makes you wonder if its all worth it, I (being a MS loyalist) would prefer if netbooks stayed Windows free (at retail)and where priced cheaper, that was the real selling point of the original EEEPC it cost me less than $400, now you can pay upwards of $900 for a netbook! Ludicrous!

30 May 2009, 8:45 AM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

NetR@nger (User):

To me thats not a surprise at all.

30 May 2009, 7:20 AM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

AndyCee (Advanced member):

No particular surprise for me either.

* Customers likely want the familiar XP, not Xandros, Ubuntu or Vista
* TRYING to find any computer (even a server) pre-installed with a linux distro is a challenge. No casual Australian shopper would find one with the hardware specs they want sitting on the shelf.
* "linux" seems to be used as a bargaining tool by manufacturers against Microsoft (Which is why we still have XP available for sale), not as a supported optional platform.
* Most Eeepc linux users I know don't like Xandros, and boot XP with their distro of choice. Eeebunty & Easy Peasy installs wouldn't be recorded by Asus.

The current 5% of EeePC sales is not a success or failing of anyone in particular. Just interactions of business, supply & demand IMO.

31 May 2009, 10:56 AM (9 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend