Date:23/01/2007 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/01/23/stories/2007012301062300.htm

Back Cubit Computers to market laptops

Our Bureau

To open 30 `cubit alleys' by year-end

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Ahmedabad Jan. 22 Undeterred by fierce competition from laptop manufacturing multinational companies, the Ahmedabad-based Cubit Computers Pvt Ltd on Monday entered into direct retailing and announced to open 30 "Cubit Alleys", a chain of exclusive laptop galleries in the State by end-2007.

In its USP, Cubit has trained its marketing professionals at the Alleys to double as technical consultants to advise the prospective customer about the brands and the right technology that fitted his needs. Priced between Rs 36,990 and Rs 74,990, Cubit has 12 models on offer, its CEO and Managing Director, Mr Suresh Nair, told a press conference here.

He said the company was targeting the small and medium entrepreneurs, Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) directly and had already sold 75,000 laps since 2001 to individuals, companies and industrial verticals.

Having its factory at Parwanoo in Himachal Pradesh, its other USPs were priced lower compared with MNCs' brands, and warranties covering replacement of old, lost or damaged models subject to depreciation costs. In technical collaboration with a Taiwanese company, Cubit is offering the latest standard technology in mobile computing device for as low as Rs 25,000, Mr Nair added.

The company, expecting its current turnover of Rs 15 crore to increase to Rs 27 crore, has a production capacity of making 15,000 laptops per month. Mr Nair said, unlike other laptops, Cubit laptops are upgradable from entry-level to higher end and are offered with onsite service with warranties flexible from one to three years.

In India, 4.5 lakh laptops were sold in the last financial year (2005-06) and this segment has seen a 40 per cent growth annually during the last few years. The market for desktops, on the other hand, is 92 times higher than that of the laptop, Mr Nair added.