Zenith hopes to double laptop market share

Zenith Computers Ltd, India's second largest computer manufacturer, expects its laptop business to contribute 10 per cent to its revenues in the current fiscal.

Buoyed by the sudden fall in prices and a greater inclination among people to buy laptops, Zenith announced the launch of its range of seven premium laptops in Bangalore on Wednesday. It is priced in the range of Rs 35,000 to Rs 90,000.

Zenith has designed the laptops keeping in mind the job profile in various levels of any organisation and also help spread the idea of a virtual office.

The company is terming the strategy as 'Management by Technology', wherein the benefit of technology can be reaped by the entire organisation and not just the top management. Hence, these laptops have been configured, designed and priced to cater to various sections of an organisation.

For the year-ended March 31, 2004, Zenith registered a turnover of Rs 285 crore. The company sold 2,700 laptops during the year, which contributed nearly five per cent to its revenues.

Zenith expects its overall laptop growth to be about 300-400 per cent this fiscal and plans to sell nearly 15,000 units. The company feels that this will help increase its topline by over 20 per cent current fiscal.

Speaking to mediapersons during the launch of the new range of laptops, Raj Saraf, chairman and managing director, Zenith Computers, said, "We feel that the market for laptops is going to increase substantially. Thankfully, the chances of the grey market penetrating the sector, unlike desktops, is much less. We expect to double our market share this year, from a share of 2-3 per cent last year."

Compared to Zenith's target of 300-400 per cent growth, the market is expected to grow by 150-200 per cent this fiscal.

The laptops will be manufactured at Zenith's state-of-the-art, 40,000 sqft plant in Goa. The company is 1,000-strong and has 15 offices across India. Zenith also has 700 authorised dealers and 135 exclusive retail showrooms in India.

Although studies indicate that laptop penetration in India is a mere 3 per cent compared to 40 per cent in the US, the segment grew by 170 per cent during the quarter-ended June 2004, when compared to the corresponding quarter last year.