Rs 10,000 more, and you have a laptop

BANGALORE: Satish is in two minds. He wants to buy a fast-computing PC which would cost around Rs 40,000, but realises that if he could shell out another Rs 10,000 or so, he can buy a brand new portable computer.
There are many like Satish today, who like the convenience of laptops and are now tempted by their prices, which have come crashing down over the past few months.
Sleek and reasonably powerful ones - which were priced over Rs 1 lakh some time ago - are available for less than Rs 50,000, almost at the price of a high-speed desktop PC.
Taiwan''s Acer was the first to introduce a sub-Rs 50,000 laptop last year. Having tasted success at this price point, it is introducing nine new models in the range of Rs 50,000-60,000.
Competition has followed. IBM, HP and Toshiba have entered at low-price points and so have local firms like Wipro with Little Genius and Zenith with its Topper brand.
According to S Rajendran, Acer India''s general manager (marketing), the single most attractive point is the pricing in the Indian market.
"The consumer earlier had limited choice in the Rs 50,000 bracket. But now we have realised that if we were to come up with more brands in this range, the offtake would be more," he says.
Adds Neeraj Sharma, general manager (brand marketing and sales) of IBM India''s PC business: "There is a large sitting-on-the-fence population when it comes to purchasing a PC, and many who are clear that they want a laptop. Even sales executives are being empowered with laptops so that their productivity goes up."
It is not just MNCs or large Indian firms that provide laptops to their employees. Even LIC and private insurance agents, as well as sales executives in mid-range companies, are toting laptops.
Abhishek, who works for a publishing company, is a strong believer in the portable revolution.
"Now I can take the files home, reply to e-mails immediately and can have access to whatever data I need. Although my wife sometimes gets irritated when I am working from home, there is a positive side to it as well. Customers feel they can get replies to their enquiries in 12 hours and that is good for our image."
HP, with its Compaq Presario range, is another strong contender. "We are seeing an acceleration in the sub-Rs 50,000 segment. Like the mobile revolution after handset prices crashed, we expect the laptop market to explode."
Although some would prefer a PC because of its larger screen, there are ways to marry the two.
"I use a 17-inch monitor at home when I want to use it with a laptop, but my 10-year-old is comfortable with the relatively smaller laptop screen. It is just our mindset that makes all the difference - we have been so used to the larger form that any change is difficult to adjust to," says Radha, 38, a software engineer.