In a game-changing move Intel India has launched its Atom family of processors to

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power Nettops and Netbooks which are primarily low-cost desktops and laptops.

The products to be priced between $250-500 (Rs 10,000-20,000) could well be the answer to driving internet penetration in India and could serve the aspirations of millions to own a desktop or laptop at home at lower costs. Lapt-op/desktop prices in India are currently hovering in the Rs 25,000-40,000 range.

Intel is hoping to tap emerging markets with these products and the key countries include India, Russia, China and Brazil.

In India, Intel has tied-up with HCL, Wipro and Zenith to assemble these products. The Nettop and Netbooks primarily constitute a board, chipset and a central processing unit powered by Intel's new Atom processor, and come equipped with 7-10-inch screen sizes for Netbooks (Nettops have a regular screen size). The Intel Atom processor is Intel's smallest processor built with world's smallest transistors.

The products come with limitations though, as they do no support high-end applications. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications are impossibile for instance, but in any case the products are not intended for high-end usage. Nettops and Netbooks are targeted at students and children, first-time users and those with small businesses. One can use them for education purposes, internet access, web browsing, and audio and video usage.

Suryanarayanan B, director, sales and marketing, Intel South Asia said, “These products would drive internet traffic in India. “The brief was to build something ground-up,” he added.

Internet penetration in India is 4.4 per cent, with a broadband population of 3.5 million. “We believe this can be improved. Intel India has always been engaged in talks with the information technology ministry on devising ways to improve net penetration,” Suryanarayanan added.

In the overall client PC (notebooks and desktops combined) market in Ind-ia HP retains the top spot with a market share of 21 per cent, followed by HCL at 13 per cent and Lenovo at 10 per cent in terms of unit shipments, according to IDC India.

In the total desktop PC market, HP retained the top spot, with HCL a close second and Lenovo in the third spot. In terms of commercial desktop PC shipments, HCL led the market followed by HP and Lenovo. In consumer desktop PC shipments, HP led the market in fiscal 2007.