esktops at Rs 9,990 and laptops at Rs 30,000 - in funky colours and smart designs. That�s the selling pitch of Kolkata-based hardware manufacturer, Xenitis Infotech, which completed the national roll out of its personal computers last month. The company offers four PC brands - Aamar, Aamchi, Aapna and Namma - depending on the region it is selling in, and hopes to close its books in 2004-05 with a turnover of Rs 165 crore, up from Rs 25 crore in 2003-04.

There have been many noteworthy attempts to introduce low-cost computing solutions. Be it Wipro�s Janata PC, iNabling Technologies� e-mail device, iStation or the much-talked about handheld device, the Simputer - all brilliant concepts that have not quite made it commercially yet. "There was a gap between the prices and the offerings in the market," admits Santanu Ghosh, director, Xenitis Infotech. "We decided to bridge that gap. We manufacture all externals, our sales volumes are high and procurements better."... more