Small is beautiful once again. Netbooks are becoming quite a rage in India too. After being a success in the US and Europe and projected to do well in India, netbooks have attracted the top manufacturers in the country. Lenovo, HP, Acer and HCL are offering the mini notebooks at prices which range between Rs 14,000 and Rs 22,000.

Just four months ago, netbooks were priced at around Rs 24,000 (See Edge, May 12: Size Matters). No wonder it has captured almost 7 per cent of the notebook market and growing fast. Globally, netbooks have taken 15 per cent of the market. Last financial year, 70,000 netbooks were sold in India, according to Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT). This year, it could more than double that number.

Apart from being a style statement, netbooks have been able to attract users with their form factor — lightweight and sleek design. For the Indian consumers, netbook is relatively a new gadget, which has most of the features of a notebook apart from the optical drive. The screen and keyboard is a bit smaller.

They come with standard configuration of 1GB RAM, 160 GB hard disk, 10-11 inch screen size, web-camera and Atom or Microsoft XP operating system. Some manufacturers have started throwing in an external optical drive free with

the device.

Netbooks are ideal for those who do a lot of surfing but not heavy graphics or video work. But they are not expected to replace the notebook market. Says S Rajendran, chief marketing officer for Acer: “People who just want to use basic internet and computer applications would go for netbooks because of low price. Notebooks and netbooks would co-exist. People would use netbooks when travelling while

having a notebook and desktop

at home.”

K Ramakrishnan, country manager, marketing at Lenovo India said, “The device is meant to satisfy the needs of mature PC consumers who want to surf the web, check and write emails, listen to music on-the-go, and for the first-time PC users who want basic computing capabilities. However, one cannot substitute a notebook or desktop functions with a netbook.”

Experts view the market to be ready for a huge growth in netbooks with the advent of 3G and WiMax services. Bundling of devices with services, similar to what has happened in the West, would lead to the growth in this segment.

Stanley Wu, country head, Eee PC and notebook business at Asus India said that the netbook market is likely to witness a 100 per cent growth in the current year. “Asus created the first netbook — the Eee PC and we are still going strong with our latest models entering the Indian market such as the Seashell series,” Wu said.

Ramakrishnan says netbooks would witness the growth as there is a need for a simplified and portable computing device among students. “Since netbooks offer great value for money and a good battery life they are becoming lifestyle choices for youth. Add the low price points and they become excellent buys during the current economic environment,” he said.

Lenovo officials said they had seen nearly 10-15 per cent of the consumer segment sales in the last two quarters from netbooks alone. Consultants and analysts in technology expect netbooks to be the fastest growing product category in 2009.