Interviews

Zenith to Boost Notebook Range

Zenith

__fc What is the reason you visit Taipei?fc__b____newline____b Raj Saraf:b__I visit Computex mainly to see new products and get an idea about trends in
technology and hardware in the market.
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__fc Is this year�s event noticeably different from last year�s?fc__b____newline____b Raj Saraf:b__I did not visit Computex last year but having visited the years before that, I
have noticed that this year there are a lot of notebook displays. The
market is slowly moving from the desktop to the notebook. This year, Zenith
is also looking at enhancing its notebook range, therefore, we are considering
the various manufacturers here at Computex.
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__fc There are a lot of PDAs and LCD displays at Computex. Is Zenith planning to venture into the PDA segment?fc__b____newline____b Raj Saraf:b__In the PDA market basically there are Microsoft�s Pocket PC and Palm. The
Pocket PC has got the Microsoft license and Palm has got its own software.
Therefore, while manufacturing the hardware is not a problem, it�s the software that would be the problem.
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__fc Is Zenith planning to change focus from PCs to high-end products like notebooks?fc__b____newline____b Raj Saraf:b__The focus is the same, Zenith is just enlarging its portfolio.p__
__fc Will Zenith notebooks be in the sub-50,000 range?fc__b____newline____b Raj Saraf:b__That is impossible. However, sub-75,000 is very much possible.p__
__fc With companies like Via getting into the sub-20,000 PC range, does Zenith see this as a threat?fc__b____newline____b Raj Saraf:b__No, it is not possible for Via to catch up. We are one of the oldest players in the
market. And Via is traditionally a chip manufacturer. Therefore it has to be
seen how they perform.

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__fc Who are the major competitors in India for the Zenith brand?fc__b____newline____b Raj Saraf:b__Competition is mainly the assemblers and then the MNCs. This is obvious as 55 percent share in the worldwide market is held by eight brands.p__
__fc Are all the components in Zenith products from Taiwan?fc__b____newline____b Raj Saraf:b__It is not that only Zenith that imports components from Taiwan. In fact companies
like Quanta and Inventec are the biggest suppliers of notebooks to MNCs
like HP, Dell and Compaq.
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