India's first laptop below Rs15000

ACi India's first and research based laptop manufacturing company launched their first full featured worth Rs.14,999.The laptops will be introduced in the market by the first quarter of this year. Mr.Hirji Patel a former missile scientist from UK and now Chairman,MD,of Allied Computers International said "The laptop industry is similar to cellphone industry,initially they were also bulky.As wireless technology has advanced, we want to give users laptops that are smaller in size and light in weight, which they can carry in their briefcase.Our laptop weighs less than a kilogram and is not bigger than a diary and even kids can afford these laptops"


The laptop features includes VIA 1.0 GHZ ULV CPU, 512GB RAM,40 GB hard disk, WiFi and Bluetooth.The laptop has seven inch TFT screen,inbuilt web camera and weighs 950 grams.ACi also ensures a 12 hour battery life through solar energy technology present inside the laptop.The company is also planning on bringing higher end version of the same model which will be priced around Rs 22,000. The casing of these laptops are made of aluminium instead of plastic to prevent heating up of laptops. Mr Patel added "technology has been growing in leaps and bounds in our country.Contributing to this growth,i want to bring technology to every man's doorstep.My aim is to cut through the cost barrier and make laptops affordable to every man in this country".

The company also plans to launch Plasma Television (LCD's) in the first quarter of this year.A 32 inch Plasma TV would be available at Rs 24,999 and 50 inch Plasma TV for Rs50000.The company will be launching 27",32",40" Plasma TVs also. The company is a UK brand and its R&D is in India but manufacturing is outsourced to china,"We hope to bring it to India" says Mr.Patel.The company will also come up with this concept in future, where these small laptops can be slotted in and out of the house hold LCD Tv's like video cassettes which then can be converted into PC's.

Listed on BSE, with current market value of over Rs 120 crore,the company proposes to raise Rs100 crore through issue of FCCBs (foreign currency convertible bonds).This would enable the company to open 80 more multi brand service centres across the country from the existing 27 service centres.ACi Asia is also setting up an assembling plant for laptops in North India with an initial investment of Rs2 crore.The laptops will be available through out the country through company showrooms having tie ups with supermarkets,malls and retail showroom franchisees.