With a monthly sales of only 150 units countrywide, partners feel that price has become the inhibiting factor for the growth of tablet PCs. Though vendors maintain that the sales are more or less to their expectations, they are coming up with bundling offers and roadshows to promote the high-value product.

Toshiba, Acer and HP among others had launched the tablet PC in recent times heralding it as the future of mobile computing. Now the hype has died down and along with that sales too have not taken off. Even worldwide, picture is not rosy as Gartner Dataquest says that tablet PC shipments are projected to reach only 4,25,000 units, representing 1.2% of worldwide notebook shipments in 2003.

FEW SELLERS, FEWER TAKERS
There are very few partners who sell Tablet PCs. And those who do, rely on brochure sales. Explains Manish Gokani of Mumbai’s Cyberciti, "We have brochures of these products and only if a buyer is keen to buy one, we place an order with the vendor. We do not carry any inventory of this product, as we sell around one unit every month." Delhi-based Soflabs Systems too acknowledges that it sells an average of one unit a month. According to sources, the monthly sales of tablets will be in the region of 140 units.

However, Jyotin Verma, Country Head-Marketing, HCL Infosystems does not agree that the sales of tablet PCs are discouraging. "Tablet PCs comprise 10% of our total laptop sales, which shows that it is definitely selling," he points out. Acer claims that its monthly sales is in the region of 35 to 50 units.

Ahemdabad-based Suresh Nair of Cubit Computers, which has recently launched its own range of Tablet PCs, opines that the reason tablet PC sales have not taken off in India is due to the high costs of these devices. He hopes that the drop in prices will bring about growth in sales.

FOCUS ON NICHE SEGMENTS
Tablet PCs are targeted at high-profile corporate leaders, like chairmen and MDs of big organizations, who are constantly on the move. These buyers do not use the computer for operational purposes, but need a machine to access the Net and scribble notes or dictate statements, that can then be digitally stored.

FIGURES SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
	Gartner Dataquest predicts 4,25,000 tablet PCs will be shipped globally by 2003, representing 1.2% of notebook shipments
	Prices of HP and Acer is Rs 1.50 lakh each, while Toshiba costs Rs 1.95 lakh. Newly-launched Cubit tablets priced at Rs 88,000 upwards
	Partners earn margins of around 8%

Sanjay Agarwal of Soflabs Systems says that even in the niche target segment, customers think a lot before going in for a Tablet PC. "When a P4-based laptop is available upwards of Rs 80,000, why would anyone want to invest over Rs 1.5 lakh for a device that is best suited for scribbling notes and transferring data digitally?" questions he.

Manish, on the other hand, feels that price is not the only reason why there are minimal sales in this segment. Tablets PCs have low processor speeds at 1.5 GHz and small screens of 12.1" or 14".

Also, a CD ROM drive or floppy disk drive has to be carried separately for this unit, which can be cumbersome for users. "Customers might not be happy with the price-performance ratio," feels Manish.

Jyotin however, says that these things do not matter to the target customer of tablet PCs, who is usually a laptop user migrating upwards to an ultra-portable platform.

According to him, the buyer wants to have the convenience of mobility and applications suited to his requirements. Jyotin adds that recently HCL sold 200 Toshiba tablet PCs to an American school, for students to use in a classroom. This underlines that the product does have business scope, but only for a niche buyer segment.

PRODUCT POSITIONING MOST IMPORTANT
The correct positioning of this product is what will underscore the success or failure of a Tablet PC. Partners and vendors feel that these devices carry a snob value for corporate leaders, who then need not carry an organizer with them. Resellers can cash-in on these sentiments to sell the product well.

S Rajendran, GM-Marketing, Acer India feels that sales in this segment are slow because the concept of tablet PCs has not caught on. "Here is a product that can support voice and handwriting recognition, can be swiveled or snapped into place while taking notes. But the awareness of these aspects is not very high among users and the channel," notes he.

Acer is now embarking on awareness programs for the users via roadshows and is also focusing on Tablet PCs at its channel meet. It is offering partners a margin of 7% to 8%, which is almost 4% higher than traditional PC margins. Rajendran hopes that Acer’s concentrated efforts to push these products will see its sales increase by at least 20% in the next six months.

PRICES NEED REVISION
However, all said and done, prices will have to be reduced in order to increase the sale of Tablet PCs. This is precisely why HCL is bundling PDA and Nokia Communicator cell phones with its tablets.

Partners say that bundling a PDA might not boost sales, as a tablet PC itself doubles up as an organizer. But whether bundling cell phones will trigger the tablet sales will be revealed in time.

VINITA BHATIA

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