Myanmar Times reporter Htin Aung Ling tests out one of the iBPC Notebooks on show during the Yangon Expo last week.

IN today’s technological world there is a one rule of survival – move forward or perish.

Myanmar may have arrived late onto the IT scene but is now actively engaged in catching up, with a domestic firm last week announcing to the public its own branch of notebooks.

That company is International Business Promotion Centre (IBPC) Winner Computer Group and it will begin marketing its twin line of portable computers at the end of this month.

Company spokesperson U Aung Zaw Myint said the notebooks will be sold as “iBPC” (International Business Personal Computer) units and have been designed specifically by that company, which will also handle quality control, although it will not manufacture the units: that technologically advanced work cannot be done in Myanmar and will be done in Taiwan under an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) agreement.

“We’re going to distribute these notebooks and netbooks in Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw at the end of this month. These notebooks are designed to meet the needs of domestic market and we will offer extensive after-sales service,” he said.

The Notebook versions will come with 12.5-inch screens, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 gigahertz (GHz) processors, 2 gigabyte (GB) RAM memory, 320GB hard disks, a webcam and optical drives, and will sell for about K590,000. The Netbooks are equipped with 10.2-inch screens, Intel Atom 270 processors, 1GB of RAM memory, 160GB hard disks and a webcam, although they do not have optical drives. They will set consumers back about K360,000.

Both versions come with one-year parts warranties and a three-year service warranty.

“These units are mainly targeted at government employees and students. We have an instalment payment scheme available too,” U Aung Zaw Myint said.

He added the company expects to attract customers with quality products, competitive pricing and better service, although he conceded that the company will face challenges in cracking the market and competing with international brands.

U Aung Zaw Myint said the company does have a long-term plan to build its own factory in Myanmar but it’s dependent on market success.

Daw Thabyae Aung, the sales manager of Technoland computer sales centre in Kyauktada township, said the laptops iBPCs offer plenty to attract customers.

“These products are good enough to attract customers in terms of price. For example, you have to pay about US$750 for a similarly specced Acer brand notebook, while this iBPC is less than $600,” she said.

However, she cautioned that the quality and performance of the laptops would determine whether they would be successful against international giants like Toshiba, Acer and Sony.

Ko Htoo Myint Naung, a businessperson in his 20s, said he was intrigued by the laptops and was keen to put on to the test as soon as possible.