How did gadgets get so cheap? It’s not because of low-paid Chinese labour but expensive Japanese machines, which can stamp out circuit boards by the second.

The £200 laptop: The Asus Eee PC is a tiny white laptop from Taiwan. It has wi-fi and a webcam and weighs less than a kilo. It doesn’t come with Windows, has no hard drive and less memory than an iPod Nano, but it’s incredibly cute and has sold out all over the world. It also comes in pink.

The £40 camcorder: The Disgo Video is a chunky, slightly ugly little camcorder with a screen and just three buttons. It can record an hour of YouTube-quality video on a memory card. If you’re willing to enter the murky world of Hong Kong eBay sellers, you can get better-specified camcorders for about £30.

The £1,290 car: Indian car-maker Tata has just announced a 100,000 rupee car, the Nano , with five doors and a 30hp engine. Designed for the vast market of middle-class Indians, it could be the Citroën 2CV for a new generation.

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