To put sales of the XO--so hyped for its sleek silhouette it has been featured in museum and art shows and in countless articles in design publications--in perspective: Apple shipped 2,164,000 Macintosh computers in the fourth quarter of 2007 alone.
While that comparison might be a bit unfair, it is clear that the XO is not catching on quite as Negroponte had foreseen. Yet when asked about expected sales for 2008, he remains the optimist.
Internet support planned
"I hope that another 1.5 to 2.5 million will be sold during 2008," he said. But no longer having Intel's investment--which Negroponte said included a further US$12 million toward support of the project, including sales and marketing resources from Intel, beyond engineering contributions--will certainly affect how well the XO sells this year.
Still, the US$35 million (or so) raised from the Give One, Get One campaign will help OLPC continue manufacturing and shipping the XO without Intel's help.
Critics and skeptics have pointed out that merely getting the XO to poor nations is not enough. When asked about this, Negroponte said that OLPC is providing Internet access everywhere the XO is shipped and is working on developing partnerships with local telecommunications systems to make use of unused bandwidth. The nonprofit is soliciting volunteer software programmers and developers around the world to create open-source educational material for the computers.
Intel cites "Classmate" conflict
So why the bitter split so close to what was intended to be the high-profile debut of a new, low-cost PC for underprivileged children? Via spokesman Mulloy, Intel stated that it could not accommodate Negroponte's alleged demands that the company cease to market its own inexpensive PC, the Classmate, to children in poor regions where OLPC was already marketing its own device.
Negroponte denied that he made any such demands--and added that he was shocked by the company's decision to jump ship. He said that only 24 hours before he was notified, he was working on a joint statement with Intel on the success of the collaboration, which he would refer to in his speech at CES.
And he said that Intel Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini was also set to mention it in his keynote. (Otellini's presentation focused on devices for the mobile Internet powered by new Intel chips and featured a line-up of celebrity guests includingTom Hanks and members of the band Smash Mouth.)
Negroponte said that the board of OLPC considered dropping Intel from the partnership at a meeting on December 18, which Intel reps did not attend. Why?
Negroponte alleged that Intel repeatedly failed to live up to various obligations. Mulloy reacted by saying "Intel, as a rule, doesn't discuss contractual agreements. But we didn't break any."
Although Intel has dropped out of the project, other powerful tech companies are continuing to offer support to OLPC, including Google, AMD, eBay, and News Corp.
Intel claimed that it remains "aligned with OLPC," in terms of wanting to support education in developing world nations, said Mulloy. But he added that Intel's position in regard to supporting education in impoverished communities has always had more to do with providing laptops, whether they be the Classmate or the XO.
The company announced last fall that it is targeting 1.5 million teachers internationally via an online teacher-training program on how to use computers and software in the classroom.
"We're disappointed," Mulloy said. "We're truly sorry this [partnership with OLPC] didn't work out."
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