PC House – From small shop to international player

PC House recently received an award from Samsung Electronics as their “Most Proactive Business Partner in Sri Lanka” at a ceremony held in Colombo graced by Prof. Tissa Witharana, Minister of Science and Technology. Seen here is S.H.M. Rishan receiving the award.

When S.H.M. Rishan founded PC House as a simple PC vending shop 10 years back, he strongly believed that IT will be a force to reckon with in the next decade.

That came true and Sri Lanka’s IT industry boomed with the dawn of the new millennium raising many related and unrelated growth opportunities. “With information and communication technology (ICT) industry flourishing in Sri Lanka, we managed to introduce our own brand of computers called ‘Panora’, bring down computer peripherals and accessories that represent world renowned brands, import state of the art audio visual and office automation equipment as well as software solutions, that gives our customers a high level of service along with a satisfying work experience,” he recalled in a statement issued by PC House to mark 10 years in the business.

PC House was the launching pad for revolutionary companies such as Panora Corporation, PC Partner, PC Pharma, Panora Taiwan, AV Corporation, OA Corporation, PCH Distributors, Sansiyo Corporation, Sheetal Samudra Restaurant, and many others, which now come under the corporate banner of PCH Holdings. In a nutshell, PC House has spread its wings to computer manufacturing, forward and backward industry integration, hospitality sector, pharmaceuticals and electronic equipment trading, even reaching out to international markets within a short span of 10 years.

The group is led by Rishan, a visionary by nature and a maverick by action. According to Feroz Inthishar, Head of Sales, PC House, in 2007, the company withdraw from selling multinational brands to focus on its flagship brand Panora.

“Why we chose Panora was because it has now reached to be the most reputed, most recognized, indigenous brand of Sri Lanka, leading in IT hardware product range,” he said.

During the 10-year period, PCH Holdings went overseas with the setting up of Panora Taiwan, and further set up liaison offices in USA, Bangladesh and India with the objective of reaching international markets, mainly the Asia-Pacific region, Russia, Australia and New Zealand, Far East & Middle East and capitalize on the ever increasing and diversifying demand for IT products and services. In addition, the company has ventured into pharmaceutical industry with the setting up of PC Pharma (Pvt.) Ltd. and entered into hospitality industry with the opening of the authentic Indian restaurant, Sheetal Samudra.

Talking about their future plans, Rishan, the group chairman, says, “We have plans to consolidate and diversify into many more related and un-related sectors in the future, whilst maintaining ICT as our core competency, which we think has untapped potential in Sri Lanka. We want to further strengthen our lesser-known business sectors such as Automobile division and Real-Estate division.