Sub 10K PC

[Rakesh 'Arky' Ambati]

Morning Friends,

From Morning News in The Hindu ....

Maran unveils low-cost PC 

Special Correspondent 

The Linux-based personal computer will support a host of applications 

CHENNAI: A personal computer for Rs. 9,990 (plus taxes). That is HCL's
"PC for India," unveiled here on Monday by the Union Minister of
Communications and Information Technology, Dayanidhi Maran.

The PC has a one GHz processor, 128 MB RAM, 40 GB hard disk, 15-inch
digital colour monitor, 52X optical drive, keyboard and scroll mouse.
The Linux-based PC will "support applications such as word processing,
spreadsheet, presentation and web browsing, e-mail clients and audio
video playback. It will come bundled with multi-lingual fonts such as
Tamil.

HCL's PC for India range is designed for each Indian who wants to
harness the power of computing right from a first time home user in
small towns to SOHO (Small Office Home Office) users, says a release.

The PC was "good for a start" and "will encourage the first time
buyer," said Mr. Maran and emphasised that it was a "low-cost PC and
not a cheap one."

`Landmark achievement' 


The HCL Chairman and CEO, Ajai Chowdhry, who said that the launch was
a "landmark achievement for HCL," made it a point to differentiate the
HCL's low-cost PC from others in the market: "Most of the existing
low-cost PCs are either stripped down versions or made of poor quality
or counterfeit components. HCL's PC for India for the first time will
offer PC in the sub-10,000 price bracket without compromising on
quality and functionality.The PC will be backed by HCL brand
assurances built over its 30 years of operations in India."

Mr. Chowdhry was of the opinion that it made business sense to
introduce low-cost PCs. In January 2004, when HCL introduced the Rs.
14,990 PC, its market share was 3.7 per cent. In March 2005, this
share rose to 15 per cent, he said and attributed the jump to the
introduction of Rs. 14,990 PC, and later, the Rs. 12,990 PC. With the
Rs. 9,990 PC too, HCL banked on volumes to rake in profits. Mr.
Chowdhry was unwilling to hazard a guess, saying he was answerable to
the shareholders.Mr. Maran said that as many as 15 million Indians
owned a PC and there were five million Internet connections. By 2010,
the number of Indians owning a PC had to be increased to 75 million
and Internet penetration, up to 45 million during the same period. The
IT department had taken up a pilot project in Chennai and Noida to
train the visually handicapped to handle computers, he said. This
project was aimed at making these people operate computers so that
they could be employed in call centres.

Nokia's operating centre 


Mr. Maran, who distributed free Rs. 9,990 PCs to a few students from
his constituency, said that it was appropriate that the launch was
happening in Chennai. He also said that Nokia was looking at India to
set up its network operating centre, the hub that would monitor all
its operations in the region. He said he was hopeful that the facility
would be set up in Tamil Nadu.

Open source centre 


Mr. Maran said initially Microsoft operating system was considered for
the Rs. 9,990 PC. But since it was expensive, Linux was opted for. "We
are going to start, by the end of this month or the beginning of next
month, an open source centre for developing open source in Chennai,"
he said. The idea was that prices should come down and people should
benefit.

Changes to IT Act soon 


Answering questions, Mr. Maran said the committee under the
chairmanship of the IT Secretary was finalising its recommendations on
the changes to the IT Act. Asked when it would be ready, he said:
"It's in a matter of weeks."

Xenitis' offer 

Xenitis, a manufacturer of branded range of desktops and laptops, on
Monday announced that it is offering a feature-packed personal
computer at Rs. 9,790 with Intel CPU and motherboard.

The company, which has been concentrating in the eastern part of the
country, said that it was now "embarking on another milestone by
offering Aamar, Aamchi, Aapna and Namma PCs at an unbelievable price
range of Rs. 9,790. The range of PCs is being launched in association
with Intel."

http://www.hindu.com/2005/08/02/stories/2005080204541700.htm

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arky

Rakesh 'arky' Ambati
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