PCS bets on midmarket segment for notebook

Nancy Sudheer

MUMBAI: Four months back, Mumbai based vendor PCS had claimed that it would be among the top three in the all product segments by the end of this year. It is definitely working hard towards its goal as it has now launched its low cost notebook called Mustang in competition with other MNC brands in the country. Nancy Sudheer met up with Arun Bhattacharya, Executive VP (Channel), to learn more on Mustang

Q. Market opinion is that your entry into the low cost notebook category has been late, what do you have to say on this front?

Notebooks have just taken off in India a year back, PCS was gearing up for the right moment. In the mean time, PCS has set up its channel, service and support network in place. It is also essential to offer the correct processing speed therefore we have the PIV with a 1.8Ghz speed which is a mobile CPU. There are a lot of vendors offering low cost solution but also with the desktop CPU. PCS wanted to target the middle class segment in India therefore was waiting to launch the right product. We have also trained our engineers who are all geared up now to look into support of these products. Media campaigns of these products will also soon start across the country.

For the channels we are also bringing out a demo machine scheme and specific dealers will be also appointed as specialized PCS notebook dealers.

Q. PCS has been traditionally a vendor targeting the government segment, are you planning to target this new product at the same segment aggressively?

Volumes are important in any business today; therefore we would definitely look at the government segment. Like the PC market, this product does not achieve that high a volume but by the end of the year PCS is atleast looking at 400 to 500 notebooks by the end of the year.

Q. PCS is looking at targeting this product at the middle management and also aggressively through channels, are you looking strongly at the retail segment?

As notebooks require special skills to sell, there are specialized partners being appointed across India for notebooks. There are many of them who have retail outlets and therefore it would be sold aggressively through this channel.

Q. Now that you have launched the Mustang in the price range of Rs 60,000-65,000, what are your plans on getting more aggressive with the price structure?

Price point is essential today, and we are definitely looking at cheaper solutions even in other segments like servers, etc. Basically, we want to offer a kitty of low cost solutions in all our product lines including the niche products. And at PCS this is going to be a continuous process.

Q. There are also regional brands coming out with low cost notebook solutions, does PCS consider these brands as a threat?

Regional brands will never be a threat mainly because these products cater to a different segment. India being such a vast country there are various segments to be catered therefore there is place for everyone. All the different types of brands will coexist.

(CyberMedia News Service)