The Rs 10,000 solution?

Both firms have breached a crucial price-point — Rs 10,000 — beyond which PC sales are expected to explode. But neither the firms, nor the experts, are jumping to conclusions. Because an array of factors can beat innovation — even if it crosses the psychological Rs 10,000 barrier.

‘‘A macro mantra goes, that you can introduce product after product at a good price point successfully,’’ says Samir Kochhar, CEO, Skoch Consulting. ‘‘But the mantra has riders: Functionality must not be compromised, and margins that become wafer-thin must stay afloat. In fact, only a very big company can wait for volumes big enough to succeed at very low prices,’’ he adds.

THE SALES REBOOT

Nevertheless, those behind the new PCs seem to have figured out their markets and prices in this war between deep pockets and deeper commitments.

For instance, Encore, a path-breaker with Simputer, is considering more traditional sales techniques for SoftComp and Mobilis. ‘‘We are definitely better prepared for SoftComp’s go-to-market strategy, though its too soon to say that even the Simputer was only ‘moderately’ successful,’’ says Encore’s Vinay L. Deshpande. ‘‘This time, we had four partners much before we launched. And we are searching for more marketing and distribution tie-ups, where we lacked before. Simputer was tougher to market because it was a PC for a few verticals, whereas SoftComp is Everyman’s PC.’’

What is different this time, is that the Rs 10,000 magic mark that makes PCs ‘‘affordable to all’’ is not the only strategy that can hard-sell low-cost computers. This time, ‘‘strategic differentiators’’ like ease-of-use, UPS-less mobility, zero-maintenance costs, nil updation costs and the ability to perform all day-to-day tasks are in the picture.

‘‘SoftComp and Mobilis will not do high performance number crunching or run very high speed animation or do many computer-aided design jobs. But it will do all you or I want: Word processing, Internet, spread sheets etc,’’ says Deshpande.

A breather has also come from the performance charts of the hardware industry, which has grown at above 30 per cent for several years. Xenitis Infotech, which already had higher-end PC offerings, therefore decided to enter the low-end segment too.

‘‘Our configuration may have been scaled down, but it should work. After all, the volumes are there, the applications have increased and the requirement is there across location and economic class. So, we saw the scope for prices to go down further,’’ says Santanu Ghosh, Chairman, Xenitis. Xenitis also has a 1,800-strong distributor chain in cities, towns, rural belt, suburbs, supported by around 220 direct dealers to hold it in good stead.

But experts still advise caution: ‘‘Innovation in the PC industry is much needed and instances of public-private partnership must be encouraged, even though many such firms do need to look beyond just low prices to sell their successes,’’ says Vinnie Mehta, ED, MAIT, the hardware industry body.

With PC penetration still in an abyss, at least all users’ eyes are on the low-cost offerings.