ACi to Launch Cheaper Laptops in India

Allied Computers International (Asia) Ltd, which launched a Rs 19,999 laptop in India last year, plans to go a step further by offering a compact laptop costing around Rs 15,000 by mid-2008.

ACi's CMD Hirji Patel said that following a good response to the sub-20k range of laptops, the company will open its own showrooms all over India and enter into tie-ups with supermarkets or malls and retail showroom franchisees.

It also plans to set up a manufacturing unit exclusively for laptops in Thane district, near Mumbai.

"We plan to increase our production from the existing 10,000 laptops to 100,000 per year. As a first step towards achieving this, we hope to garner Rs 60 million through the IPO which opened Friday," Patel said.

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Patel managed to cut costs through innovations like providing an aluminum body rather than fiber or plastic.

Within the first three quarters of 2006 ACi captured 40 percent of the estimated total market of 250,000 laptops from the SME segment in India in which it operates.

"Now, the hostility to laptops in the Indian market has disappeared, and customers are choosing a laptop over a PC since the price barrier between them has been erased," Patel said.