Samsung eyes 12% share in Indian notebook mkt

Current share is 10%, firm has 4 ultrabooks and 30 notebooks in mid- and high-price range

Electronics giant Samsung today said it aims to grow its share in the Indian notebook market to 12 per cent by the end of 2013 on the back on its new Windows 8-powered product range.

At present, Samsung has a market share of about 10 per cent in the Indian notebook and has four ultrabooks and 30 notebooks in the mid- and high-price range.

It launched its first touch-enabled ultrabook, tablet PC 'ATIV Smart PCs' as well as devices under Series 9 Ultrabooks.

"Our smart devices like the ATIV Smart PC and the other Windows 8-powered notebooks are designed to deliver seamless user experience... We have 10 per cent share of the notebook market in India and by next year, we are targetting 12 per cent," Samsung Electronics Vice-President (IT Solutions) Jin Park told reporters at the launch here.

The Indian notebook PC market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18 per cent from about 5.9 million units in 2012 to 6.9 million in 2014. Of this, consumer segment (66 per cent) us expected to grow 17 per cent in unit terms and 16 per cent in value terms.

World's largest software firm Microsoft had launched its new touch-friendly operating System 'Windows 8' earlier this year as it looks to regain ground in mobile computing space.

"The market in 2013 is expected to be driven by ultrabooks and slim form factors as well as entry level tabs and convertible tabs," Samsung Director (IT Business) Uday Bhat said.

The ATIV Smart PC and ATIV Smart PC Pro are tablet PC devices, which come with detachable keyboards. They have 11.6-inch screens and are powered by Intel processors. ATIV Smart PC is priced at Rs 53,990, while ATIV Smart PC Pro is priced at Rs 75,490.

The 13.3-inch Series 5 Ultrabook has the third generation Intel Core i7 processor, 12 GB memory and 500 GB storage. It is priced at Rs 64,990.

The 15-inch Series 5 Ultrabooks are powered with AMD Quad Core processor and is priced at Rs 43,990.

Globally, Samsung expects to ship 16 million laptops and tablet PCs powered by Windows 7 and 8 operating systems in 2012, Park said.