Intel laptops to be sold in U.S., Europe

Intel Corp. said Wednesday that distribution of low-cost educational laptops it designed for developing markets would soon expand to the United States and Europe.

Computer makers will start selling Intel-designed Classmate PCs in those markets for about $250 to $350, making them the latest super-low-cost laptops to go on sale in the developed world, said Lila Ibrahim, general manager of Intel’s emerging markets platform group.

She declined to identify the PC makers, saying those firms had asked Intel to keep their names quiet until they were ready to unveil the models.

The chip maker has conducted tests of the devices in the U.S. and Australia, she said, declining to name schools where they were being tested.

Ibrahim said manufacturers in India, Mexico and Indonesia had begun selling the laptops on the retail market.