With
most vendors positioning it as a 'secondary device', Google's latest
personal computer Chromebook may struggle to attract attention in India,
a highly competitive marketinternet penetration beyond cities is low.
Industry
experts said that while the web-centric device may draw interestsome
users, its initial sales are expected to be weak due to low broadband
penetration in India and competitionexisting PC brands, 90% of which are
based on Microsoft's Windows operating system.
"There
is a high probability that some customers will buy Chromebooks, but it
will take some time for it to become the primary computing device," said
S Rajendran, chief marketing officer in India for Taiwanese device
maker Acer.
In India, currently HP and Acer
are selling Chromebooks, with more device-makers expected to join. The
Chromebook was launched in India two weeks ago, nearly two years after
its US launch. It runs on Google's Chrome operating system and lets
users download popular software applications such as Gmail, Youtube as
well as othersits online app store.
Priced
between Rs 23,000 and Rs 27,000, Chromebook is Google's first attempt to
dominate the laptop/netbook market, after finding success in the
smartphone segment with its mobile operating software Android. Over 60%
ofsmartphones sold in India are based on Android, according to analysts'
estimates.
Acer's Rajendran however does not
see Chromebooks as being a "substitute for Windows 8," Microsoft's
latest operating system for PCs, tablets and smartphones. Google told ET
that it will use a similar strategy (to that of Android) to sell the
device and that it expects more device makers, including Indian
manufacturers, to develop Chromebooks over the coming months.
"We
position Chromebook as a post-PC era device, which will have the
capabilities of a traditional laptop, but will be faster and works with
the flexibility of a tablet," said Caesar Sengupta, product management
director at Google. Lenovo told ET it will launch Chromebook in India by
the middle of next year but sees "very limited opportunity initially."
"Users
need net connectivity always to log in into Chrome OS and not every
user will be comfortable using cloud computing and Chrome OS," a Lenovo
representative said.
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