RDP Workstations Launches Laptops In Sub 10K Range; Plans To Manufacture In Hyderabad

RDP Workstations, a Hyderabad-based IT hardware and mobility devices manufacturing company, is planning to set up a laptop and phablet manufacturing facility in Hyderabad with an investment of about $2 million (Rs 13.3 crore) in the next three to four quarters. “The facility will initially assemble SKDs (semi-knock down) units and graduate to CKD (complete knock down) units in a phased manner,” Vikram Redlapalli, Founder and Managing Director of RDP, told reporters here.

Incorporated in 2012 as a manufacturer of low-cost computing products called thin clients, RDP Workstations expanded its product basket on Wednesday with the launch of ThinBook, which it claims to be India’s most-affordable 14.1-inch laptop. Developed in strategic association with ecosystem players Microsoft and Intel, ThinBook is aimed at addressing the needs of entry-level consumers, Redlapalli said.

Speaking on the occasion, Telangana IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said the State government, as part of its digital literacy programmes, may come up with a financing scheme to provide ThinBooks to the beneficiaries. “RDP has grown on its own so far. This is where we have to do the handholding. If necessary, we will design a tailor-made package for RDP,” said Telangana IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao.

We may come up with a financing scheme for people to procure the laptop” once the company starts manufacturing in the State, Ranjan said, adding six villages in Telangana have become 100 per cent digital literate. The government, he pointed out, has engaged Indian School of Business to carry out a third party audit of the digital literacy levels.

Telangana- India’s Start Up State:

The newly-formed Telangana state has been constantly evolving in attracting investments, especially in the IT sector. During his recent visit to India, Tim Cook, CEO, Apple, was present in Hyderabad for inaugurating a new campus where, the K T Rama Rao, the minister of IT said that Telangana government works as a ‘start up state’ where any file which did not get any reply for more than 30 days is considered to be sanctioned. He also said that the government is working to ground zero level to woo the investors in the state.