BenQ eyes 5% of laptop market

Dubai: Taiwanese firm BenQ expects to capture five per cent of the Middle East and Africa (MEA) laptop market share this year, a top official said.

"After a roaring success in the television sector, we want to aggressively penetrate the notebook market and the latest products will definitely attract increased potential buyers," said Manish Bakshi, General Manager of BenQ Middle East and Africa.

Positioning

"The new products would help us reach a double digit growth figure that would position us within the top six brands in the notebook segment this year," he added.

The company has become the new entrant in the laptop market and has unveiled four new models in the UAE and Saudi Arabian markets.

The company expects to penetrate Kuwait and Qatar markets by May and other Gulf and North African markets in third quarter.

Bakshi said BenQ's aim is to take enjoyment to the next level with its new class of laptops offering enhanced design, functionality and convenience to consumers.

He said as per BenQ statistics, anticipated growth in notebook sales across the entire MEA market over 40 per cent this year.

BenQ expects to launch about 16-18 models this year in 13-15 inches range.

The Joybook Q41 is the first to offer Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) function directly from the auxiliary display allowing users to dial directly from the auxiliary display with BenQ's exclusive UltraVivid widescreen technology which helps increase screen brightness and sharpens details to deliver a superior viewing experience.

The company claims they are the first to come out with eight millisecond response time laptops.

"The notebook enjoys a huge market size and approximately 100 million units were sold worldwide last year with the figures expected to grow over 32 per cent this year," he said.

He said in spite of sizeable market share, BenQ is always keen on introducing something new and trendy to suit consumer demands.

Other than Joybook Q41, BenQ will also launch the R43, R45 in 14.1-inch screen; X 31 and S 32W in 13.3-inch with LED technology and A53 and R56 in 15.4-inch in the coming months.

"In making the Joybook Q41 widely available in the Middle East, BenQ continues its tradition of introducing leading-edge solutions to satisfy techno-savvy consumers' needs in the Arab world," he said.

"BenQ's enviable success in bringing out products of outstanding quality has been crucial to the company's emergence as a market leader, and we intend to further intensify our R&D efforts to keep introducing world-class products and solutions that deliver value to our consumers," Bakshi said.

Trend

2008 forecast

- 15.4-inch laptops will lose market share and 12.1 and 13.3 will gain market share by year-end.

- 17-inch laptops will gain importance than last year.

--16:9 ratio laptops will be launched this year.

--120GB was the dominant storage capacity in 2007 but 160GB and 250GB will be the standard storage capacity this year.