Analysts and industry pundits forecast that the notebook market, which has been growing faster than the desktop market for the past three years, is expected to overtake the desktop market by Q4 FY2011-12. A fall in prices, large deals from governments and institutions, and demand from consumers and sectors such as education are expected to help the notebook numbers.
According to both IDC and Gartner, Q3 FY2010-11 saw notebook volumes rise, and for the first time a million-plus notebooks were sold in India in a single quarter. The research agencies put the notebook numbers at around 1.11 million. As per Gartner, desktops grew by 5 percent in Q3 FY2010-11 whereas notebooks grew by 41 percent as compared to the same quarter last year.
“The last quarter has been historic in many ways,” states Gopal Swaminathan, Director, Sales and Marketing, Intel India. “I remember in 2006 we were striving hard to do a million mobile processors in India for the entire year. The market has grown nearly four times for notebooks. The demand is driven by all sectors and a very buoyant consumer market, which is preferring mobile computers.”
Enterprises in India, both small and big, are in the midst of a technology refresh cycle. “Notebook numbers are helped by the fact that many SMB and enterprise entities are replacing their desktops with notebooks,” says Rajeev Mehta, MD, Zest Systems, Delhi.
Entry-level notebook prices have dropped below the Rs. 25,000 mark; this has helped break the ice with new customers. Acer, which has driven new price-points in notebooks for nearly a decade, created a new price bracket of Rs. 20,000 with its e-machines brand. Explains S Rajendran, CMO, Acer India, “For every thousand-rupee bracket in the sub-Rs. 25,000 market, you are creating a new set of aspirants who want to buy a computer, or who are willing to buy a notebook instead of a desktop.”
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