Low-cost PCs hit Simputer sales

Is the much-hyped homegrown low cost handheld computer device -- Simputer -- losing out the battle with the advent of rapidly falling computer prices?

Simputer sales has been discouraging for the two firms licensed to produce and market the device that uses the open source Linux software and was developed by scientists at the Indian Institute of Science.

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While state-run electronics equipment maker Bharat Electronics Ltd, which launched branded Simputer "Amida" could sell only 2,500 units, Encore Software has been able to sell slightly above 2,000 devices.

"Sales did not take up as expected," BEL chairman and managing director Y Gopala Rao told reporters in Bangalore on Tuesday.

BEL produces the Simputer for PicoPeta Simputers, a firm owned by the scientists who created the much-hyped device and was said to help bridge the digital divide in India. It largely targets the retail segment, while Encore taps the industry and government business for their product.

"World over prices of computers and similar products (hand held devices) have come down drastically," Rao said.

He said the inventors have been asked to rework the design of the Simputer to make it cost effective and affordable.

Last year, BEL had projected Simputer sales of over 20,000 units, which includes government customers.

"There is still interest from government customers like Chhattisgarh for the simputer," Rao said.