Dell cuts prices across the board

H-P lowers notebook tags

Following the Budget announcement that PCs will be exempt from excise duties, Dell Computer on Wednesday announced a 6 per cent price cut across it products, while Hewlett-Packard reduced its notebook prices by 4-5 per cent.

Said Dinesh Pai, General Manager, Dell India: "Subsequent to the Budget decision, we will be able to offer a 6 per cent reduction in the list price of our entire range of desktop systems, notebooks and workstations with immediate effect."

According to Dell, these savings are available to Dell's Indian customers because of Dell's build-to-order direct model. A reduction of 6 per cent on list prices is available on all configurations of Dell desktops, workstations and notebooks.

"A Dell Optiplex 170L with a 2.80 GHz Intel P4, 128MB of memory and a 40GB hard drive that had a list price of Rs 45,820 before the duties can now be purchased directly from Dell for Rs 43,071. Similarly, the Dell Latitude D505, a thin and light notebook, will now be available at Rs 71,182 onwards as against a starting price of Rs 75,725," a statement from Dell said.

HP meanwhile has dropped prices on an average of 4-5 per cent for its notebooks only as these are being imported. Said a spokesperson for HP India: "We have dropped prices on an average of 4-5 per cent across our notebook range as a directly implication of freeing of excise duties on PCs in the Union Budget."

He further said that HP will not be dropping prices of its desktops are they are being manufactured in India. "Our prices for desktops will still be competitive after Dell cut their prices," the spokesperson noted.

Acer, the other major player in the Indian market, has decided to wait and watch until there is clarity in the fine print.

Said S Rajendran, general manager, sales & marketing, consumer product group, Acer India: "The Budget announcement fully exempts PCs from excise, but there are still certain anomalies that arise due to CVD on components being at 16 per cent. The companies assembling or manufacturing computers (while importing components) in the country would not be in a position to offset the CVD in the absence of excise duty. Several industry bodies are in discussion with the Government to set right this anomaly."