The Hindu Business Line : Imported PCs, notebooks to cost less, post-Budget

IMPORTED personal computers and notebooks have become cheaper post-Budget with vendors deciding to pass on the benefits of the reduced Customs duty to consumers.

However, buyers planning to buy a local PC may have to pay about four per cent more than earlier as small-time assemblers plan to pass on the levy of four per cent countervailing duty (CVD) to consumers.

Dell has cut prices by up to five per cent, ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000 across its range of personal computers and notebooks. Other players such as Acer and Hewlett Packard have also dropped prices of notebooks by 12-17 per cent and 5-6 per cent respectively in last few days, whereas IBM has no plans to reduce its PC or notebook prices, said a company spokesperson.

Dell, which also announced free upgrades, said the offer is valid only till March 11. For the Indian market, Dell, unlike other vendors, imports all its products in finished form from Malaysia. Officials of Dell and HP India were not available for comment.

Acer, the first player to launch a sub-30K notebook in the Indian market, said that it announced a cut in prices even before the Budget. Mr S. Rajendran, General Manager Marketing, Consumer Products Group, Acer, said the company's aggressive pricing was notwithstanding the Budget announcements. "Acer is witnessing a phenomenal growth in notebooks segment worldwide. This price reduction was due to the benefits of the economies of scale and not purely because of the Budget announcements," Mr Rajendran added.

However, Mr Rajendran said that there would not be any further drop in PC prices. Despite the ITA agreement coming into effect, some of the components that go into PCs still attract a countervailing duty element of 16 per cent plus four per cent. "As a result of this, it is impossible for the manufacturers to drop the PC prices further," he added.

Zenith Computers plans to maintain a status quo on its product pricing, said the company chairman, Mr Raj Saraf.

Mr Sunil of Lampo Computers Pvt Ltd, a local assembler of PCs, said the PCs made locally would go up by as much as four per cent because of the levy of the CVD. "There is a direct impact of the four per cent CVD levy on almost all the components, including processors, hard disks, mother boards, chassis, and CPUs," Mr Sunil said, adding that despite the hike in prices, the locally manufactured PCs will still be cheaper than imported ones.

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