Ranada Prasad Shaha University

Group assignment on
Rebuilding Plan for
Doel Laptop

Course Title: Entrepreneurship Development

Course Code: BUS-333

Prepared By:
Backbenchers

Prepared For:
Naznine Akter
Assistant Professor, RPSU

Department of Business Administration

Date of Submission: 19-july-2022

Group Members of Backbenchers
1. MD. Rifat Alam (ID:18300038)

2. Jannataz Nahar Konka (ID: 18300030)

3. MD. Fahim sikdar (ID: 18300001)

4. Sadia Parvin Nipa (ID: 18300083)

5. Faysal Habib Opu (ID: 18300019)

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents Page
number

About Doel Laptop 1

Fall of Doel Laptop 2

Rebuilding Plan for Doel Laptop 3

References 5
 About Doel Laptop
Remember the “Doel” laptop? It was the first laptop to be assembled in Bangladesh. In
2011, the Telephone Shilpa Sangstha Limited, launched the first Doel laptops as part of a project
under the National Education Program. At that time there was a lot of hype about these laptops
with hopes that good quality laptops would be available in the country at low prices. But in
reality, the Doel laptop failed to gain acceptance among consumers. Although Doel came with
the aim of delivering laptops to everyone at low prices, the laptop did not create such a
concussion in the market. In 2010-11, Asian countries became active in bringing their own
products to the electronics market. To reduce its reliance on Intel processors, China has taken the
initiative to build computer processors. India also tried to bring its own tablets to the market.
Meanwhile Bangladesh took the initiative to provide low-cost laptops to the school & college
going students through locally assembled laptops. 

Since, at that time internet modems were becoming popular, there was a growing trend among
everyone to buy laptops. Therefore, with a loan of Tk 45 crore from BTCL, the Telephone Shilpa
Shangstha limited, Dhaka-based 2M Corporation and Malaysian Thin Film Transistor (TFT)
Technology formed a joint venture. Initially, only 10% of parts were made in Bangladesh but
gradually the target was set to produce 60% of the parts in Bangladesh. The company introduced
4 different models of laptops to the market at that time. Minimum configuration was a laptop
with an 800MHz VIA 8650 processor, 512MB of RAM, a 10.1 “1024×600 display, and 16GB of
flash memory, with a price tag of 10,000 BDT. Another model, the Doel 0703 was priced at
13500 BDT. The specification was somewhat better with Atom N456 processor, 1GB RAM,
250GB hard disk, better screen, and comparatively better webcam. The operating system was
also Linux. The rest of the models were priced at BDT 22,000 and BDT 26,000 respectively.

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 Fall of Doel Laptop

After unveiling to the market in 2011, the production of ‘Doel’ stopped within 2 years.
The reason for the closure was the lack of funds required for the project. The demand for this
laptop was also very low due to poor configuration. According to TSS’s annual report published
in 2013, TSS has managed to sell 26,622 laptops in only two years. Of this, the Ministry of
Education bought two-thirds or 16,615. Surprisingly, only 98 units of their lowest-priced laptop
were sold in two years. The biggest push came from the other two partners in the project, 2M
Corp and TFT. They withdrew from the project less than a year after the launch of the Doel
laptop. They owned 75% of the project venture. According to a report prepared by TSS, TFT
claims 2,25,000 BDT as their equipment cost. That’s why TSS has to face many problems in this
project management, as a result, a significant part of the assembled laptop remains unsold. As
per TSS’s 2013 annual report, only 28,000 laptops were sold in two years. Whereas, 37,059
laptops were assembled.

Those laptops were performing very poorly and users were not happy with the
performance of those laptops. A study published in 2014 mentioned the experiences of 50 Doel
laptop users. The study recorded that the users were facing problems in almost every aspect of
the Doel laptops except few. 83% of users complained about the batteries, 35% complained
about RAM and about 18% complained about the processors. Also most components of the
laptop were not durable. Moreover, there was no after-sales service. Which resulted in people
losing faith on the laptops and according to many are the key reason for the low demand.

Finally, in 2016, TSS completely shut down the ‘Doel laptop project’. According to
TSS’s 2016-17 annual report, a total of 63,245 Doel laptops of 11 models were assembled and
58,750 were sold from 2011 to 2016. Originally, they thought that if they branded Doel as a
domestic laptop at a lower price, everyone would be interested in buying the laptop.

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 Rebuilding Plan for Doel Laptop

The failure rate of startups is relatively high, especially for first-time entrepreneurs.
Roughly 50 percent of all startup businesses fail within the first four years, and many of those are
started by first-timers who have limited entrepreneurial, business, or management experience.
Even if you start with a fantastic idea, have a dedicated team to make that idea a reality, and plan
for most contingencies, external factors beyond your control and a lack of overall experience can
cause a business to collapse. Failure is a real possibility for the vast majority of business owners.
Doel had a really good vison but could not make it. There were several reasons for their failure.
Let’s discuss the rebuilding plan for doel laptop:

1. Analyze the failure: we had found several reasons for the failure of Doel laptops. Among
which, there was the consumer perception about the quality of the laptops. Even though the
laptops were meant to be affordable in nature, the TSS was manufacturing laptops with very
low specifications to keep the prices of the laptops down. As a result, those laptops were
performing very poorly and users were not happy with the performance of those laptops. So,
we will have to provide what the consumer expects from us. No matter if we had to increase
the price. It needs to be updated all the time to maintain its presence in the market. They will
drop out of a huge market if they offer low-quality laptops at low prices. Especially from
those who are always interested in using updated models.
2. Quality assurance: No matter what product we offer, quality assurance must be ensured.
Because in the past there were many complaints about the build quality and material of Doel.
In that case, Doel can ensure their quality by collaborating with a good manufacturer.
3. After sales service: Doyle’s after-sales service was not very good. So Doel needs to ensure
quality products as well as after-sales service. This will increase everyone’s confidence in
Doel. It will help to satisfy consumer more and will help to attract more consumer.
4. Making it mandatory: Doel laptops can be made mandatory in all types of government
institutions. This will make it possible to increase the sales of Doel laptops. In addition, Doel
laptops can be provided by the government every year with the budget for laptops or
computers in government institutions.
5. Discuss with other entrepreneurs: we can expose ourself to more entrepreneurs who wants
to start a tech company or laptop brand, or just introducing ourself to business owners. Share

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 our experiences and ask about theirs; we will get some new perspectives, and make new
contacts along the way. Ideally, we will learn new ways to deal with the problems faced.
6. Preparing a new marketing plan: The marketing plan for doel laptop were not up to the
mark. Now social media is really a good place for marketing the product. Doel had no
personal selling website. We can create a doel website for online selling and home delivery
service. We can make showroom for doel laptop like Walton.
7. Looking for competitive advantage: The laptop market in the country is constantly
growing due to the improvement of internet infrastructure and digitization. So, we have to
make a unique position and differentiate our self from other company to get competitive
advantage. We can get the competitive advantage for doel laptop by keeping updated
technology. Supply chain acts as the backbone in the PC industry and the more efficient is
the supply chain of a PC brand, the higher is its productivity

Above all, we think Doel will be able to establish a solid position in the laptop electronics
industry if it can prioritize offering low-cost, high-quality laptops to government agencies,
educational institutions, and the general public while also ensuring after-sales support.

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 References

1. 1Bhattacharjee, J. (2021, November 20). Why Doel Laptop Failed? Business Inspection

BD. https://businessinspection.com.bd/why-doel-laptop-failed/