ACi to begin business afresh

Hirji Patel, the man who launched the ACi brand of notebooks

in the sub-Rs 50,000 price bracket, has decided to start his venture all over

again. But this time round, he has decided not to rely on any tie-ups for

marketing the brand.

Three years ago, when Hirji started ACi’s operations in

India, he tied up with Deepak Shah of Allied Computers to market and promote the

ACi brand. However, the sales stagnated over a period of time and ACi’s

marketshare dropped to three percent from an initial six percent. Explaining

this drop Hirji says, "Because of inexperience and mismanagement by our

Indian partner, the notebook sales slumped."

Hirji has now decided to focus on the sales of notebooks

based on price and quality under the banner of ACi (Allied Computers

International Ltd). To start with, he is launching a P4 notebook with 14"

monitor, eight-layer motherboard and complete MMX features for Rs 90,000 in

July.

Notebooks of similar configurations cost over Rs one lakh in

the market. The company will also launch a lightweight P4 notebook, weighing

just 2.4 kilograms, in the same month for Rs one lakh. ACi hopes to start off by

selling 300 notebooks a month, and slowly increase to 1,000 units by this

year-end.

Once the volumes start picking up, ACi plans to appoint a

national distributor to manage channel sales. It also intends to open offices in

seven major cities. These offices will also house the ACi service centers, where

notebooks of any brands will be repaired.

a P4 notebook with 14" monitor, eight-layer motherboard

and complete MMX features for Rs 90,000 in July.

Notebooks of similar configurations cost over Rs one lakh in

the market. The company will also launch a lightweight P4 notebook, weighing

just 2.4 kilograms, in the same month for Rs one lakh. ACi hopes to start off by

selling 300 notebooks a month, and slowly increase to 1,000 units by this

year-end.

Once the volumes start picking up, ACi plans to appoint a

national distributor to manage channel sales. It also intends to open offices in

seven major cities. These offices will also house the ACi service centers, where

notebooks of any brands will be repaired.

VINITA BHATIA