Sharp To Fill Out Notebook Line Aimed At Channel

Sharp Systems of America

The company, which focuses its sales on the channel but which currently has a very limited portable PC product offering, this week will introduce two new models, to be followed up by a desktop replacement-type offering soon, said Terry Storm, product marketing manager.

The Actius MV10W, with a 1-inch-thick form factor and weight starting at 3.8 pounds, includes an integrated combination DVD/CD-RW drive, integrated 802.11 support, 256 Mbytes of memory and a 30-Gbyte hard drive.

The Actius UM30W is 0.77 inches thick, weighs about 3 pounds and includes an 866MHz Mobile Pentium III processor, integrated 802.11b, 256 Mbytes of memory and a 40-Gbyte hard drive. The unit ships with an external USB CD-ROM drive.

Sharp plans to ship the MV10W this week with a list price of $2,199, and the UM30W is expected to ship next week with a list price of $1,999, Storm said.

Sharp ships very little products direct or via retail, said Storm. The company passes leads directly to its channel partners, she said. "Because we target corporate and enterprise customers, solution providers are our best bet," she said.

This is Sharp's first big notebook PC product launch, Storm said. "Last year, when we introduced our ultraportable model, enterprise customers said, 'This is great, where's the rest of the product line?" she said.

In August, the company plans to round out its portable PC line with a three-spindle, 8-pound model intended as a desktop replacement, said Storm.