T-Mobile to Sell HSDPA Laptops In Germany

Wireless

from the radio-controlled-laptop dept

Google may not want to sell PCs, but T-Mobile does: the carrier says it will start selling laptops in Germany in March to coincide with its launch of HSDPA high-speed data service. T-Mobile will subsidize the laptops by as much as 500 euros, according to one report, bringing their retail price down to 100 euros. Plenty of carriers have made deals with laptop manufacturers to build their service into the computers, but this is the first where the carrier is actually subsidizing and selling the laptop themselves. It’s an interesting attempt to try to stimulate mobile data usage, but a big subsidy for laptops seems an awful high price for a carrier to pay. It sets up an interesting battle, though: with this deal, an HSDPA-equipped laptop will cost roughly the same as a 3G handset. Which will German consumers prefer to use for the mobile Internet?