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Toshiba eyes greater share of Lao notebook market
The Toshiba Singapore Company hopes to be the top selling notebook brand in Laos within the next five years as demand for laptops and notebooks continues to grow in the country.
“Here in Laos we've seen steady growth in the demand for notebooks,” company representative Ms Lin Yasi said at the launch of new Toshiba notebook models last Friday in Vientiane.
With the new notebook offerings, Toshiba expects to become a leading brand in bringing exciting mobile computing experiences to Lao consumers as they switch from desktop computers to notebooks.
“I'm very sure that Toshiba will be a champion in the market. However, we'll have to see the real market situation and sales figures,” Ms Lin said.
Another company representative, Mr Shawn Tay, said the new models are aimed at students, businesspeople and gamers.
Currently, the use of Toshiba notebooks in Laos is still low compared to other countries in the region.
In the Indochina region, Thailand is the number one user of Toshiba brand notebooks, with Vietnam in second place and Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar third, according to Ms Lin.
“We hope to boost sales of our products because Lao people are changing from using PCs to notebooks.” Datacom Co Ltd in Vientiane is the licensed distributor of Toshiba products in Laos.
Datacom Sales Director Ms Kingkeo Douangsavanh said Toshiba accounts for about 60 percent of the notebook market share in Laos.
Datacom is based in Vientiane but has dealers nationwide. “We plan to have branches in Champassak, Savannakhet and Luang Prabang provinces within the next two years,” Ms Kingkeo said.
The company operates as a distributor not a retailer. It imports IT products for supply to dealers or IT shops in Vientiane and the provinces.
Datacom is also the authorised distributor of global IT equipment manufacturer Dell Corporation in Laos.
However, Toshiba and Dell are not without their competitors. Vientiane has many electronics dealers selling various computer brands, with most customers working in the hydropower, mining or medical sectors.
Laptop and notebook computers are selling well in Laos, boosted by falling prices which have dropped by 30-40 percent since 2009. At present a notebook computer can be bought for as little as 2 million kip.
The best selling brands at the Lada & Co and Micro-Info shops are Acer, HP and Lenovo, while Samsung and Sony devices are more popular with shoppers at K Plaza.
vientiane times
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