THE Cebu market can still be considered as a “clone-centric population” when it comes to buyers’ choices in purchasing personal computers (PCs).
This is mainly because Cebuano consumers want to get value for their money, said Melanie Ng, executive vice president of Ngenius IT Hub, the retail arm of Ng Khai Development Corp.
Ng said the market share for cloned, or assembled PCs, is already at 70 percent.
Cloned PCs are also more affordable compared to branded units, although the price difference between the assembled and branded PCs are not as big compared to when Ngenius first entered the retail computer industry in 2006.
“Now, it’s just a 10- to 15-percent difference,” she said, adding that before it used to be 50 percent.
Although Melanie noted that an acceptable number of Cebuanos are also open to buying branded PCs.
“The customers just have to decide on what really matters most to them, whether it’s reliability (they want or) flexibility,” Ng
said.
Branded PCs have as much as three years warranty on parts and services but the specifications of the parts are limited to what is included in the package. Cloned ones, on the other hand, allows the user to vary the specifications of the computer according to his or her requirement.
New habits
Wilson Ng, president of Ng Khai, said that the new habits of end-users have also helped technology grow.
But he also admitted that profit margins are shrinking mainly due to the competitiveness of the market.
“That is why at Ngenius, we give more value-added services,” Wilson told reporters in a press conference last Tuesday to announce Ng Khai’s anniversary promo.
This year, the company will celebrate its 15 years in the industry on Aug. 8.
One service that Ngenius offers its customers is the availability of certified technicians who do not only repair hardware but also give sales services. At present, Ngenius has over 50 service and sales engineers under its technical pool.
Aside from the promo, the company will also open new stores next week.
Ngenius will open more branches in the Visayas and Mindanao, but Melanie said the company is not very keen on having the branches franchised.
She said franchising a store that sells information technology products would be difficult to maintain as technology changes “very fast.” (DME)
