__p Touted as the “Must-have hardware product” in recent times, the ubiquitous notebook has begun to spring up in areas that had earlier posed a stiff resistance to the product, mainly due to its exorbitant price and even expensive maintenance factors.
p____p It is evident that the replacement PC cycle is under way, as IDC reports that portable sales have seen an astronomical growth of 136.3 percent year-on-year, and more than 23 percent consecutively during the April-June quarter.
p____p The trend in India has not exactly caught on like wildfire, namely because notebooks continue to remain more of a personal decision than a corporate or financial one amongst individual buyers in the home segment. The main reason for this is the restrictive number of finance options that are currently available for buying a notebook.
p____p Individuals are still hesitant to invest heavily in a notebook in the absence of an attractive finance scheme in the market. Currently, Bajaj Capital seems to be the sole finance provider for notebooks across all brands, with a bulky interest rate attached to it.
p____p For notebook sales to inch even higher while meeting customers’ expectations, vendors need to have a closer look at their tieups with finance providers. And one way of doing that would be to offer a zero-percent interest rate!
p____p Another reason why buyers are closely watching their purse-strings is the promise that notebook prices may be slashed down next year, when duty cuts are likely to come into effect.
p____p In the meanwhile resellers can be equipped with value-added bundles to encourage them to start offering customers something more than the notebook itself. Also, retail chains and online stores can be exploited to provide extra batteries, memory or cables or extended warranties, to further entice buyers.
p____p The SME sector is currently the key notebook segment and will continue to be so for some time. Lucrative offers could help boost the sale of notebooks in this sector. The variety of choices available today, and expected in the future, will continue to be a tremendous benefit to users.p__