Chinese firm to supply tablets PC for Thai students

BANGKOK - Thai government signed a contract with a Chinese company on Thursday to buy one million tablet computers for primary school students.

Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development Co (Scope) shall deliver 400,000 tablets, priced $32.8 million, within 60 days. A total of one million tablets will be purchased by repeat order, according the contract between the company and Thailand's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.

Thai Ministry of Education had previously planned to hand out the tablets to Grade 1 primary school students. It is part of the "One Tablet per Child Program" -- providing each school child with a tablet computer, promised by the ruling Pheu Thai during last year's election.

The minimum requirements for the tablet include 1 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM, 8 GB storage and 7-inch crosswise screen, according to the contract.

Liu Jun, chairman of Scope, said the company can produce more than 20,000 tablets per day. "I'm certain that our company can deliver the tablets in time."

Scope will dedicate about 19 of its over 30 production lines for the tablets. Each production line can produce 1,000 tablet in an 8-hour shift. "We can work for more than one shift a day. So 20, 000 tablets a day is not a problem," Liu said.