NEW DELHI, March 3: The computer industry in the country will witness a five per cent decline in growth this year.The industry has entered a shake-out phase with intense price wars in the offing, director of PC products group of Compaq Computers Ltd Paul Brinkhorn said.
Paul said Compaq had shipped a total of ten million personal computers last year, which was more than the total world wide sales of Hewlett Packard and Dell combined.
The company expects to be one of the top three computer manufacturers in the world by the year 2000.
It is aiming to be one of the top ten marketing companies in the world by the turn of the century. Compaq had revenues of $24.7 billion for 1997 with a growth of 14.3 per cent.
Paul confided that the South-Asian meltdown and the currency devaluation had shaken business confidence in the region. Financial and economic uncertainties could last for another two years.
The company has unveiled its new Deskpro 1000 model is priced at Rs 49,900 and features a 200 mhz pentiumprocessor with MMX technology and 16 mb RAM.
The PC is targeted at the price conscious consumer, mainly in the small business segment, claimed Abhishek Mukherjee, managing director Compaq India.
A shake out in the information technology business in the region and particularly in India will make it important for computer manufacturers to offer better value to their customers.
The Asian market presents a windfall of opportunity for us and we hope to capitalise on the growing importance of Asia, added Brinkhorn.
The company has reinforced its commitment to the Indian market by offering industry the advantage of Compaq's high quality manufacturing processes and greater reliability, claimed a company release.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
