HP releases Ubuntu loaded machines in 1,500 stores in China

Ubuntu’s retail presence has grown again as HP brings a range of laptops pre-installed with a Chinese-centric version of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS to over 1,500 of its stores across all major cities in China.

Consumers in China will now be able to purchase HP laptops running Ubuntu directly from stores, where they will also find information packs and marketing materials to help with their purchase.  Over 4,000 in-store sales staff have also been trained to use and demo Ubuntu to help explain the benefits. The available laptops will be HP’s stunning Pavillion G14 and G15 models. The laptops will be priced starting at 3,799CNY and will include between 500 GB and 1 TB of storage, fast, powerful and visually immersive processing power as well as DVD drive, wi-fi and six cell batteries. The laptops will be on sale at stores from 16 September.

Ubuntu is now an easy choice for consumers, with a clean, crisp elegant interface, an exceptional browsing experience and a fully-integrated software center for applications and games (both free and paid for). It also includes leading services such as the Ubuntu music store and the Ubuntu One cloud storage service built-in.