Dragon Computer & Communication, commonly known as Dragon in Indonesia, was the first[1] and largest hardware distribution company in the country. The company is headquartered in Jakarta, Java, Indonesia.
The company offers a wide range of computer hardware brands, including but not limited to Acer, ASUS, Inktec, Elevo, Lite-On, and Edimax.
Batumas Computer Center (BCC)
Dragon, formerly known as Batumas Computer Center (BCC), was founded by Fransiskus Eddy Liew in 1980. Before establishing the company, Liew—a Malaysian national at the time—was well known as an importer of various brands, including Olivetti typewriters, Citizen calculators, and Casio digital watches, since 1973.
Eddy Liew is well known among his peers and family as an entrepreneur from the golden era of calculator and digital watch sales. He later shifted his business focus to the distribution and sale of personal computers, which was considered a novel venture with uncertain prospects at the time.
His decision proved to be quite accurate, as BCC—at the time selling Sinclair, the first computer brand in Indonesia—experienced significant success. Other brands distributed by BCC in the 1980s included Commodore, IBM, KT Technology, and Twinhead.[2] BCC was also known as Acer Software before Acer became recognized for computer hardware and peripheral manufacturing.
Rebrand to 'Dragon Computer & Communication'
Eddy Liew's second son was born in 1988, the Year of the Dragon. In response, BCC changed its name to Dragon Computer. Additionally, Liew recognized that computer hardware and telecommunications hardware would increasingly be used together and therefore should not be separated, leading to the addition of the word "Communication" to "Dragon Computer," forming "Dragon Computer & Communication."
In 1998, the company’s small shop in Glodok, Jakarta, was targeted during a local riot and was subsequently looted and burned down. Despite this setback, it became a catalyst for the company’s growth and led to its relocation to the aptly named "The Dragon" headquarters in Mangga Dua Square, Jakarta.
Dragon is also a founding member and key supporter of the Association of Indonesian Computer Entrepreneurs (APKOMINDO) and the Indonesian Information and Technology Association (AITI).
Distributed brands
Dragon is recognized as a main distributor of Acer and ASUS in Indonesia. Under Dragon’s leadership, Acer became the #1 brand in Indonesia[3] for nine consecutive years, from 2005 to 2013, according to IDC and GfK.
In 2014, ASUS appointed Dragon as one of its distributors, and in the same year, ASUS became the #1 brand in Indonesia,[4] according to IDC and GfK.
In the early era of Dragon, under Eddy Liew's leadership, the company developed several well-known brands in the Indonesian market, including BENQ, Compaq, IBM Aptiva, Packard Bell, Gateway, E-Machine by Acer, Epson printers, and Inktec.
Dragon also contributed to the success of the Lite-On brand and BTC (a Taiwanese brand) in Indonesia during 2003. Lite-On became the leading brand of optical drives in the Indonesian market for eight years, from 2003 to 2010.[citation needed]
Elevo
In 2008, Dragon's subsidiary company, PT Elevo Technologies Indonesia, formed a partnership with Maarash Technology China (a computer distributor and manufacturer of the Compal brand) to create a notebook and netbook specifically designed for the Indonesian market. The brand quickly gained a reputation as Indonesia's own brand, offering an affordable price of under 1 million Rupiah (Rp 999,000.00). In its early years, Elevo attracted significant attention from Indonesian customers; however, since the product was not officially backed by the Indonesian government, Elevo struggled to compete effectively with well-known global brands.[citation needed]
Dragon Capital Center
In early 2015, Dragon bootstrapped a startup company under the name PT Dragon Capital Center. The project, which was still in stealth mode,[clarification needed] was set to be launched in 2016.[citation needed]
Dragon's Product Roadmap
No
Brand
Origin
Products
Announced
Status
1
Casio
Japan
Calculator, Casio Tone, Digital Watch
1980
Sole Distributor
2
Sinclair
England
PC
1981
Sole Agent
3
Citizen
Japan
Calculator
1986
Sole Agent
4
KT Tech
Korea
PC
1989
Distributor
5
Acer
Taiwan
PC
1991
Master Dealer
6
Epson
Japan
Printer, INK
1991
Master Dealer
7
IBM
USA
PC Aptiva
1996
Distributor
8
Acer
Taiwan
PC, Notebook
1998
Sole Distributor
9
Inktec
Korea
Ink, Toner, Cartridge, Paper
1999
Sole Distributor
10
LITE-ON
Taiwan
Compact Disc, Optical Drive
2001
Sole Distributor
11
BTC
Taiwan
Optical Drive
2006
Sole Distributor
12
Asus
Taiwan
Notebook
2014
Distributor
13
Elevo
Indonesia
Notebook, Netbook
2008
Manufacturer
Subsidiaries
PT Dragon Capital Center (Internet Product and Service Company)
PT Dharma Inti Teknologi (Computer Hardware Distributor)