In a move that many might consider foolhardy given the current economic uncertainty, a number of indigenous PC manufacturers are gearing up to increase their share of the Irish PC market against its domination by major US brands.

Based on company claims and figures from market research company International Data Corporation (IDC), the market share of indigenous PC manufacturers could rise from around 8 per cent to more than 20 per cent within two years.

According to the IDC, there were more than 414,000 PC units sold here last year, of which the vast majority were from the big five (Dell, IBM, Compaq, Fujitsu-Siemens and Hewlett-Packard).

The biggest of the indigenous manufacturers, Dundalk-based Iqon Technologies, currently churns out 20,000 units a year but is shortly to move to a new 30,000 sq ft facility, where it plans to increase production to 60,000 units over the next year or so.

Osmosis, a small Dublin-based computer distributor, has just introduced a new range of own-brand PCs called Ozone, which it hopes will sell around 10,000 units a year initially.

The oldest and second-largest indigenous PC manufacturer, Cork-based PC Pro, makes around 10,000 units a year.

There are a number of other PC assemblers around, but none on the same scale as the above.

Yet it is still surprising how little indigenous PC manufacturers have prospered in the Republic, especially as in most other European countries, local builders account for a decent slice of the market.

In both Germany and Denmark, for instance, local manufacturers account for more than 25 per cent of the market. In Britain, names such as Tiny, Time, and Evesham Micro are well-known among PC consumers.

Opinions differ somewhat on why the Irish market is so small. All the Irish PC builders are keen to point out that there are very few differences between their PC products and those of the US multinationals by virtue of the fact that most of them use the same processors, hard drives and operating systems. Prices and build quality tend to be much the same too.

"Unfortunately there is still a stigma attached to what people think is a clone," says Mr Conor O'Donovan, managing director of PC Pro.

"Branding is achieved by marketing and by budget. It doesn't mean that the machine is any better, or that the support structures are any better."

Mr O'Donovan suggests that national sentiment may be another factor. "The Germans are more nationalistic. They tend to buy their own."

He says if it were not for Dublin becoming the "Silicon Valley" of Europe by virtue of the number of US companies with operations there, the indigenous market share would be much higher.

However, indigenous manufacturers hoping to take advantage of the "buy-Irish" tag have found that it is not the exclusive domain of Irish companies.

Dell, for instance, which has about 35 per cent of the market, has cleverly plugged its "Irish" connection so that it is perceived by many to be an Irish company.

"To be honest, I think it's to do with the lack of entrepreneurial spirit in this sector, and it's not the easiest of sectors to enter into," says Mr Dermot McElroy, managing director of Iqon.

"I'd like to see more companies active in this area, so more people see that there is an indigenous computer manufacturing business here and that they are good companies to work with."

It is no coincidence that all the Irish companies that produce own-brand PCs are in the distribution business, which has experienced very strong growth in the past few years.

Iqon, for instance, is the biggest distributor for Philips in Ireland, including monitors, projectors, speakers and hard drives. The majority of individual components Iqon uses to put together its PCs it would have distribution licences for, says Mr McElroy.

However, some resellers say they would not touch an Irish-branded PC because there are problems associated with these machines.

For example, one reseller suggested that, with indigenous PCs, you could get different components in different batches, creating complications for support services.

This is rejected by Mr McElroy, who says that Iqon-built machines are easier to service and upgrade than a Dell or a Gateway by virtue of using standard, off-the-shelf components for CD-Roms, hard drives, motherboards and so on.

"It was only recently you could upgrade a Dell using standard memory chips," he said.

In talking to these companies, they discuss the value propositions of their products and services along much the same lines - a speedy local service that is free of bureaucracy, a product quality that equals that of the US brands and a sense of continuity.

"We are the leading manufacturer of PCs in this country offering as good a product and support service that competes as competitively on price as anything that's out on the market today," says Mr McElroy.

"We're not saying it will be any cheaper but we'll guarantee that our local resellers are going to be around longer than any of the big American multinationals," claims Mr Brian Honan, sales director of Osmosis.

While all have growing dealer networks willing to stand behind their products despite the lack of a strong brand name, branding is still considered important.

"You have to create the brand and make people comfortable with the brand," says Mr Honan.

"The way we service our market is by the customer gaining confidence in what sell, how we sell and most importantly, how we back it up," said Mr O'Donovan of PC Pro.

In the midst of the downturn in demand for PCs, there is some trepidation about future revenue prospects for these companies. However, one factor in their favour is that they all have low overheads. PC Pro, for instance, only employs 18 people.

"We're in a position that we can expand and contract as the market demands," says Mr O'Donovan.