InFocus launches its second pocket-sized PC, Kangaroo Plus, with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, available for $169
Paul Thurrott / Thurrott.com :
Context & Ripple Effects
Five months after InFocus shipped the phablet-sized $99 Kangaroo running Windows 10 on Intel's Z8500 with just 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, it is back with a second model that doubles both specs and the price. Kangaroo Plus keeps the same pocket-desktop idea but moves from impulse-buy territory toward entry-laptop pricing.
The timing matters because the ultra-cheap Windows PC niche InFocus is carving out sits well below what Microsoft itself offers in small form factors — a gap later visible when Microsoft pushed its own compact machines upmarket, from the business-only Surface Go line to the $599 ARM-based Windows Dev Kit 2023.
First-order effects
- Budget buyers who found the original Kangaroo's 2GB of RAM limiting can now get 4GB RAM and 64GB storage for $169, while InFocus doubles its per-unit revenue on the same product concept.
Second-order effects
- A $169 Windows desktop narrows the price gap to refurbished laptops and low-end tablets, forcing other budget-PC makers to justify full-size machines against a device that fits in a pocket.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — cheap mobile-derived Intel silicon in ever-smaller chassis — the pocket PC stays a niche InFocus owns while Microsoft cedes the sub-$200 tier and concentrates on premium small-form-factor devices like the Surface Go and Dev Kit lines.
The trend: Ultra-low-cost pocket Windows PCs are becoming a specialist niche, with mainstream vendors like Microsoft pulling their small-form-factor hardware upmarket instead of competing on price.