Compaq Launches Multimedia Presario 2110

Plans chalked out to make leading MNC brand in home PC market

The $18-billion Compaq Computer Corporation unveiled its strategy to position itself as the leading MNC brand in the home PC segment with the launch of Presario 2110, a Cyrix microprocessor-based multimedia machine at a price tag of slightly under Rs 70,000.

Users today are both price sensitive and conscious about branded products. The Presario 2110 provides an affordable branded option , Compaqs country manager for India, Abhishek Mukherjee, told reporters here yesterday.

The Compaq Presario is equippped with fast processors, larger memory and a premier sound audio system, and is price-positioned to meet the needs of the price sensitive users looking for a multinational brand.

 

To make its prices affordable Compaq opted for a Cyrix processor, which was priced less than the more popular Intel processor, the chief of the consumer PC division Ravi Swaminathan said emphasising that the Cyrix chip fulfilled all the performance specifications of the company.

He said import duty has led to the doubling of the cost of the Presario 2110 in the country, he said.

For the Indian market, Compaq imports personal computers, servers as well as desktops and portables directly from two of its largest plants located in Singapore and Houston, Texas.

Mukherjee said Compaqs wholly subsidiary in India is expected to be operational by the year end.

He said the options for manufacturing in India have been kept wide open in view of the policy changes being initiated in the country.

In case Compaq sets up manufacturing base in the country it would be more in the nature of an assembly unit, rather than a component base.

This is because the present volumes of sales in the domestic market do not justify setting up large production lines like those its units in Brazil, Scotland or China.

Two crucial aspects that need to be considered before Compaq sets up manufacturing base are the savings in terms of production cost and logistics. At present the company can save only 4 per cent on cost if it assembles units here.

Unless the domestic market absorbs 100,000 machines per annum, the logistics aspect would not favour establishment of any kind of manufacturing base.

Out of Compaqs total revenues in India, home PCs constitute a 12 per cent share, servers account for 20 per cent while desktops and portables contribute the rest.

No plans for Cyrix 6x86MX chips: Compaq

Reuter SINGAPORE

US-based Compaq Computer Corp said on Friday it currently has no plans to make products based on Cyrix Corps latest 6x68MX microprocessors.

We do not have it on our roadmap, Greg Petsch, Compaqs senior vice president, corporate operations and quality, told Reuters after a speech.

Cyrix is a rival to the worlds biggest microprocessor maker Intel Corp and it launched in May the 6x86MX range of chips, which competes with Intels Pentium II chips at half the price. Compaq is already using a predecessor of the 6x86MX called the MediaGX for its low-end PCs priced below US$1,000 each.

Petsch said Compaq remained focused on Intels chips but would consider the 6x86MX chips when their availability and prices reached a suitable level for Compaq to produce products aimed at the lower-priced market.

Compaq was constantly reviewing which chips to use, including those from another Intel competitor Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), he said.

One concern among top-tier PC vendors like Compaq is that companies like Cyrix and AMD might not be able to supply the large volumes of microprocessor required and on a timely basis.

Cyrixs latest 6x86MX range of microprocessors are priced from US$190 for the 166 megahertz version to US$320 for the 233 Mhz version, in quantities of 1,000.

It is expected to unveil a 266-MHz version in the fourth quarter.

Cyrix has said it hoped to announce a top-tier PC vendor in a few months for the 6x86MX, currently being tested and evaluated by some of the top PC vendors.

Majors like IBM and Compaq are considered top-tier while smaller Asian companies are part of the second-tier.