India's latest craze: Laptops

Notebooks that were till recently considered a "must-have" for the frequent flyer alone, have now become a strong force in the personal computing segment.

Adoption of a mobile lifestyle is another added bonus for notebook consumers, what with wireless hot spots cropping up in coffee shops and malls and allowing users to plug into the Internet from anywhere.

Not surprising then that notebooks are popping up everywhere - on TV news desks, in sitcoms, in movies and even in your friend's lap.

Taiwanese notebook makers estimate that the market for laptop and notebook computers is growing at 20 per cent each year. And they should know. After all they manufacture 70 per cent of notebooks or its components for major players like Dell and Hewlett-Packard.

Now for the best part. Notebooks are predicted to get even more prominent in markets like India as hundreds of millions of old desktop PCs retire in the coming years. It's hard to even imagine or calculate how many old, bulky machines will be replaced by sleek, sexy upstarts simply referred to as notebooks.

The domestic notebook market took a positive leap in the first quarter of 2006 despite uncertainty surrounding changes in taxes and duties during the Budget. Coupled with aggressive marketing by vendors, the notebook PC segment as a whole witnessed a massive growth of 177 per cent year-on-year in terms of unit shipments.

According to International Data Corporation (India), the consumer market has started buying notebooks as second PCs.

A press release issued by IDC categorically states, "The buyers are already familiar with desktops and are ready to migrate to the next level of technology. At the enterprise level, notebooks are increasingly being looked at as productivity tools, not meant for the designated few in the organisation's hierarchy but for the larger workforce."

Most notebook vendors have consolidated their position with spruced up products and a mature marketing strategy to promote their brand.

Leaders like Apple, HP, Lenovo, Sony, Samsung, Dell and LG have launched notebooks models with increased performance, more hard drive speed and capacity, processor speed and graphics capability.

While it is popularly believed that Indians are price sensitive, this does not necessarily mean that we only buy products at a bargain. Notebooks, which are essentially costlier than laptops, are targeted at those who are top management officials or frequent fliers and a style statement in themselves.

Pioneering the concept of high-end notebooks, Sony India launched its VAIO models that have been increasingly popular in India.

Sony launched VAIO series at a price of over Rs 100,000 and, as expected, caught the consumers' fancy. The style elements that are integrated in the VAIO are combined with unique features. The company claims it brings out the world's slimmest notebook PC.

"Clear bright LCD, instant AV mode button and many more features will make VAIO a choice for new-age customers," feels Kent Tanigaki, product head (IT), Sony India.

The ThinkPad (erstwhile brand tag of IBM), also in the Sony VAIO category, has built up a huge fan following in India. In fact, notebooks gave Lenovo the much-needed platform to launch itself in the Indian market.

Sanjeev Menon, general manager, Notebooks BU, Lenovo (India) details, "Customers are increasingly opting for advanced features in high-end products. Some aspects of these products have become very popular like biometric technology, lightweight, widescreen and security."

Lenovo outlines that its customers favour the lightweight, durable and scratch-resistant models that weigh less than three kilos and have a long battery life.

Some give prime importance to connectivity and look for WLAN and limitless connectivity. Our suggestion: Pay attention to the hard drive, processor, RAM, connections, battery life, price and yes, do go in for a branded name.

Not to be outdone, HP recently introduced five new series of notebook PCs, including the company's thinnest and lightest notebook. Ravi Swaminathan, vice president (personal systems group), HP (India) feels that technology is not simply about hardware.

"It's about enhancing the user experience by building innovations at every level of computing technology - right from designing to ease-of-use, security and reliability as well as maintenance and service," he says. True.

Vendors like Samsung and LG are closing in too. Samsung has strengthened its line-up by launching two new models in the Indian market.

The notebooks feature Intel's Napa platform with the latest built-in CPU Core processor Duo, i945 chipset, 802.11 ABG and Bluetooth 2.0. Competitively priced for the higher-end notebook market, Samsung promises to deliver dynamic performance and style.

Apple MacBooks, considered to be the next generation machines are fast catching the fancy of Indian customers.

There is no single brand in India that can bag the coveted title of the notebook leader. But clearly the Indian market is readying to grow leaps and bounds this year.