A tech mall on par with global bests

"Due to the rising demand of computer products and other technical items, we have to make at least two to three trips to these countries per month," said Shumon, manager of a shop at BCS Computer City. Shumon pointed out that the trend began only around six to seven years back but now has paced up at an enormous rate.

"The demand was not very high in the early days. Plus most of our customers were not exposed to the latest technology and products, which has now become possible through the internet, newspapers and satellite televisions," he added.

Other shop owners also pointed out that sometimes they get to hear about a product while taking an order from a customer. "Most shops here allow customers to order a product and pay a significant amount as advance," said Shamsul Khan, a manager of another shop. The product is then bought from abroad and delivered to the customer within a given duration of ten to fifteen business days.

Over ten to twelve latest computer products and accessories are introduced at the BCS Computer City every day.

Tech-freaks would love the latest Sony Cybershot available in most of the shops at Computer City. The first Sony Cybershot DSC-F828 was launched in 2003 and it is already known for its 7x zoom and 134 x 91 x 156 mm (5.3 x 3.6 x 6.1 in) dimensions. The camera also has a viewfinder of 235,000 pixels. Digital cameras of various other brands, webcams, PDAs, PDA-phones, Notebooks are also available at affordable prices

Creative MuVo TX FM is another hot product at Computer city. It is an ultra-light (32 grams without battery), high-performance and easy to use flash player that also plays and records FM Radio. It is in various categories from 128MB, 256MB, 512MB and 1GB of flash memory that can carry hours of skip free, high fidelity music. USB products such as Flash Disks, MP3 Players, 4 port and 7 port USB Hubs, USB Optical Mouse, Capture cards, PC-to-Phone cables and converters with various types of connecting cables are widely available throughout the market.

Another attraction of the BCS Computer City is Autodesk Limited, the local authorised distributor of Macintosh products. Apart from the iMac G5 and Mac Mini the latest PowerMac G5 and the new iPod U2 special edition is also selling like hot cakes. Along with the conventional iPod, the hot favourite iPod Mini and the iPod Shuffle can also be found here, which comes in various capacities.

It needs to be noted that the iPod U2 special edition black and white product is engraved with autographs from U2 band members. Over 5,000 songs can be stored in it and has a maximum storage of over 20,000 photos.

Due to the rapid update in the huge collection of products that can be found, teenagers and young adults are regularly seen browsing the various shops of Computer City.

"I run over here and do some window shopping whenever I have leisure time," said Ridwan, a student and a resident of Mohammadpur. Ridwan also pointed out that most products are affordable even though the 'latest arrivals' tend to have higher prices. "I bought an MP3 player at a price of Tk 3,500 from Computer City last year, which currently has a price of Tk 2,400," lamented Ridwan.

Students like Ridwan and the tech-savvy generation are the reason behind the overall popularity and thus the business of Computer City have skyrocketed over the last few years.

"The demand for products will increase further if import taxes and duties on computer products and accessories are further reduced," concluded a salesman of a store, under condition of anonymity.