In a bid to grab hold of the Chinese market, Dell, after the return of its founder, Michael Dell, has unveiled its low-cost personal computer, the EC280, aimed at the large population of internet novices in China.

The EC280 model is designed for close to the billion strong Chinese population that does use the internet. Accordingly it has been priced at around $335, lower than similar models. Internet usage is a rapidly expanding in China, with 137 million Chinese estimated to be online at the end of last year.

Designed by engineers at Dell''s China Design Centre in Shanghai, the PC will have an Intel processor, up to 515 megabytes of memory, a 40 or 80 gigabyte hard drive and the Windows XP Home Edition.

The low-cost model is also part of Dell''s strategy to offset slowing sales and weak growth in the US, by launching an aggressive push into Asian markets by the US computer giant.

Founder Michael Dell, who returned in February this year to lead his firm out of its problems as chairman and chief executive officer (See: Michael returns to lead Dell), says there are one billion people online worldwide, and many of the world''s second billion users are in China. "We intend to earn their confidence and their business."

Earlier this month, Dell, which was overtaken as the world''s largest computer maker by rival Hewlett-Packard last year, reported a sharp drop in quarterly profit and announced earnings and margins would continue to be under pressure for several quarters.