Bangkok--Dec 8--PR PLUS TWO
Mr. Supant Mongkolsuthree, President of Synnex (Thailand) Co., Ltd recently presented at a press conference on December 7, 2004, commented that the market size of Thailand notebook would be upswing as the world trend, it would rapidly and continually extend with the notebook price reduced and the performance increased.
From the total figures of computer sales in 2004 reported by Association of Thailand Computer Industry (ATCI), 210,000 notebooks were sold. In 2005, ATCI forecasts about 273,000 units of notebook sale volume, reflecting a 30 % growth rate compared to this year performance. A total of 1,295,700 personal computers were sold this year, of which 16 % is accounted by notebook computers while the other 84 % belongs to desktop computers.
Mr. Supant said that “From this prosperous trend of notebook computer, we believe that notebook is coming to replace desktop PC very soon, for the reason that notebook computer is able to respond to people life-style in this era very well. Moreover, the compact size of notebook allows user to carry it everywhere and it also empowers the user to connect to the Internet world at any time and anywhere via Wireless LAN connection.”
From the total notebook sales this year, 42,000 units are Premium notebooks under the renowned brand names, achieving 20 % of the market shares. Premium notebook users are those who have high purchasing power or brand royalty. The Mainstream notebook captured 65 % of market shares with 136,500 units as it is the normal standard type for general usage and needless to be well-known brand name. The Mainstream notebook users are those who require standard features and convenient size for carriage, maybe with the wireless network connection capability. The last is Replacing PC or users who are going to
replace desktop PCs by considering reasonable price notebooks. This group accounted for 15% of the market shares with 31,500 units of sales.
According to Mr.Supant, the notebook computer market in Thailand will still belong to international brands; anyhow the local brands will start to gain more influence and thus grab more market shares. For Synnex itself, the company expects to see its Build To Order notebook’s sales volume in 2005 at 9,500 units or approximately 800 units a month. From this estimated figure, it would capture around 3.5 % of the whole notebook market as Synnex continues to educate the market and target users about its BTO notebooks.
The origin of BTO Notebook
Mr. Supant viewed that “Currently, the notebook computer comes as standard model which we are not able to change its fixed components. Although there may be several models to choose from, most of them still do not satisfy consumers’ needs completely. With that said, BTO notebook consists of 5 key components that consumers can choose, including CPU, Hard disk, RAM, Wireless LAN and Whitebox (for desktop it is called Barebone). In the future, all components inside the Whitebox (such as LCD, Keyboard, Optical Drive, Mainboard) will be developed as Standardized Components in order to provide more choices to users and allow them to select the preferred specs as they may require.
From this prosperous trend comes the idea of Build-to-Order (BTO) notebook. BTO is designed up to serve the consumer needs in terms of their usage and purchase budget. Comparing BTO notebook to the international branded notebook, we will rarely find any difference in the terms of efficiency, design and usage type. The components that Synnex punctiliously chooses for BTO notebook are all quality products from the world leading brands, i.e. CPU and Wireless module from Intel, Kingston Memory and Seagate Hard disk.
Customized to consumer’s needs is the outstanding point of Synnex’s BTO notebook, as consumer can select any type of mobile CPU such as Pentium M or Celeron M. In addition, consumer is able to determine the capacity of Memory from 256 MB to 1 GB while choosing hard disk capacity from 20, 40, 60 and 80 GB. The standard Wireless Network Connection, 802.11b or 802.11g are both offered. Three sizes of LCD screen are proposed: 12.1 inches, 14.1 inches and 15 inches. The customers can assign their notebook spec under their affordable budget and types of usage. Moreover, BTO users are able to upgrade their machine in the future. BTO notebook also enhances cost-saving over the useless features of the notebook.
“From my point of view, notebook computer is well-suited for the current human lifestyle and it is going to be ‘A Must’ in the very near future. BTO notebook is another worthy choice for computer usage. By next year Synnex will market this product mildly and it will be more aggressive in the following years, especially when Standardized Components system completely comes into play. At that time the consumers will have more choices in component selecting and upgrading like mainboard, optical drive or even LCD and keyboard”, Mr. Supant added
Joining “Notebook for Thailand Higher Education”
Mr. Supant said Synnex (Thailand) has been participating in the notebook for higher education program headed by the Commission On Higher Education (Sor Kor Or.), aiming to provide more opportunities of notebook usage among those university students and even the officers in higher educational institutes in an effort to improve information technology for Thailand educational system. Under this co-operation, Synnex will offer BTO notebook under the “Sor Kor Or.” brand name.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Wanchai Rivepiboon, Director of office of Information Technology Administration for Educational Development, revealed that this program will enable more university students and officers in higher educational institutes the opportunity to own notebook computers, and it is able to enhance the country educational system as well. Presently, there are many higher educational institutes who have agreed to participate this program including private & government universities, Rajabhat institutes and Technology institutes throughout the country. The Savings Bank is involved in this program for credit procedure.
Mr. Puttipan Teyarachkul, Managing Director of Synnex (Thailand) said that “Previously the figure of desktop computer in Thailand was shared by Inter-brand for 20% and 80% was taken by local-brand. However Thailand computer industry now comes to the shifting point, where the desktop users are starting to use notebooks more and more due to convenience, reduced price and the fact users are able to set the specs as they require.”
Mr. Puttipan also mentioned about Synnex service strategy for its BTO customers that “Now we have 15 service centers throughout the country that can fully support BTO users. Every model of Synnex BTO notebooks has a 2-year-warranty (1 year warranty for LCD and Battery). As for this warranty, we believe that Synnex BTO users would receive more fringe benefits than the other notebooks at the same price level. Moreover, the other components receive separate warranty, i.e. Intel CPU (3 years), Seagate Hard disk (5 years), Kingston Memory (lifetime). For repair service, Synnex service centers will diagnose the problem within 1 business day after receiving the notebook, and fix the defect in 3 business days. In the case of extended repair, Synnex will offer spare notebook for temporary usage within 7-14 days of waiting period.”
Mr. Puttipan added that Synnex has over 15 years experience in IT distribution and import industry. The company is accepted as one of Thailand’s largest IT distributor with world-class management system, widest geographic coverage and ISO 9001:2000 as its guaranteed mark. As a result, Synnex is confident in driving its BTO products to the market. Particularly, Synnex service is highly prompt under the good coordination from the branch centers around the country.
Pacing the Education Road-Show
In order to urge notebook for higher education program and reach out to the target effectively, Mr. Puttipan said Synnex and Sor Kor Or. will together run the road show to the various educational institutes throughout the country. The road show will consist of workshop showing how the notebook is assembled and seminar to provide troubleshooting tips for example.
“Shortly, Synnex and Sor Kor Or will jointly set up the educational road show, aiming to educate the students throughout the country. We aim to show them how the notebook is assembled as well as provide the tactics of how to fix the computer problems”, said Mr. Puttipan.
For more information:
Suphanee Luksana
Mass Communication Manager
Synnex (Thailand) Co., Ltd
Phone: 02-533-8888 Ext. 7511
Email: [email protected]
News Release Issued by:
PR PLUS TWO Co., Ltd
Phone: 02-972 7415
09-799 9964
Email: [email protected]
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