Asus' 1 million Eee PC order from Russia?

Submitted by a Russian reader with a gmail address. Unfortunately his name appeared as ?????? ???? [b***83@gmail.com] on my inbox -

Hi, I'm from Russia and I've read one interesting article about EeePC.
Check this link (in russian)

or this one translated into english

It is from site of one well known newspaper in Russia. In short, it is about that "mysterious 1 mil. EeePC's pre-order". It says that "that developing country" is Russia. Time will show :)

----------

The Financial Times reported that Asus president Jonathan Tsang has announced his company has received a firm order for 1 million Eee PCs from the government of a developing country. But Tsang refused to identify the country, only saying that it was not China. Sources close to Asus indicated it was either Brazil, India or Russia.

Vedomosti, the Russian business daily however has reported that Tsang identified the country as being Russia. Accordingly, Tsang has said that the transaction includes the supply of one million laptops not immediately but over a period of several years.
Asus Director of Marketing in Russia Alexei Voronkov, however, has retracted comments.

According to Vedomosti, its source in the Ministry said that while specific arrangements have not yet been achieved the Ministry has ordered the Eee PCs as part of its "A Computer in Every Home" project and expects to sell one million PCs by the end of 2008.

However Gartner Group analyst Anneta Dzhamp said that an order of 1 million computers would be a world market record. She expressed doubt that any government can immediately buy in such huge quantity as it would be more logical to start a pilot purchase. Per Gartner, there were 1.9 million notebooks and 5.4 million desktops sold in

Over the past year, in the assessment of Gartner, in Russia sold 1.9 million notebooks and 5.4 million desktop computers. Bestsellers (data for the II quarter of 2007, in descending order) - Acer, Asustek, Depo Computers.

According to the analyst, with a price of $ 200 EeePC will more than double cheaper than other laptops. "The demand for typewriters has been and will be, but the question is whether to pay for their $ 200? "Vice President, Product Marketing Depo Computers Alexander Barinov admits that even with the VAT (18%), import duties and retail margins in EeePC could cost Russia $ 300 cheaper. A laptop can be a substitute device, but the device-niche product and not a high demand for a mass market, he warns. Head of Acer in Russia Gleb Mishin Asustek declined to discuss plans.