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What do you want to use today

Smartphones and Netbooks can and will co-exist catering to different needs of the same user segment. Vinita Gupta reports

Not too long ago an entry-level notebook set you back by Rs 30,000 and there was no way you could compare one as an alternative to a smartphone that retailed for less than half that (even less if you consider the fact that mobile phone sales often involve a trade-in; something that notebook vendors haven’t got around to doing).

The emergence of the Netbook and the consequent erosion in entry-level prices (for instance, HCL’s MiLeap X, an ultra portable laptop priced at Rs 13,999) has led to Netbooks emerging as a viable alternative to smartphones for data-intensive tasks while on the move.

When it comes to smartphones, India is already the third largest market for smartphones after China and Japan. According to Indian survey company Canalys, these category cell phones will have a significant impact on the market in the coming months.

With 3G technology expected to be made available in India in the next few months, the adoption of smartphones will increase. As per the IDC, by 2010, 70% of mobile devices in use will be smartphones.

Smartphones are ultramobile computers

Smartphones are full-featured mobile phones with personal computer like functionality. They go beyond the capabilities of feature-phones that support a camera, calendar and music player or radio by adding support for full-fledged mobile applications including at least viewers for common office documents (MS Office, PDF, ZIP etc) and often tools to edit said documents. All too often these devices have a pop out QWERTY keyboard or a touch screen to assist in the process of data viewing and manipulation. At the upper end, these devices can cost almost as much as a basic laptop.

These gadgets can be customized; you can download or copy across applications. As mentioned, they let you edit and share word processor documents, spreadsheets and presentation files. Pricing starts at Rs 12-13,000 for a simple smartphone and goes up all the way to Rs 30,000 and a tad above.

Betwixt Smartphones and Laptops

Anurag Arora, Country Manager- Business Notebooks, HP India revealed that people are looking for something which does not only take care of their business needs but also doubles up as an entertainment device and something which is easy to carry around. Keeping this requirement in mind, HP is concentrating on the growth of the ultramobile notebook segment which aims to plug the gap between high end cell phones and laptops. The HP Compaq 2133 Mini- note with an 8.9” screen and less than one kilo weight is one such device.

“We at Acer called these low end notebooks as netbooks. These Netbooks are used for content consumption and not for content generation. People on the move can use basic computing applications, listen to music, e-mail and surf the Internet. They can also play basic online games, engage in social networking and make voice- over IP phone calls. Thus for our netbooks, we are targeting four segments like education, sales force automation, entertainment and Government officials who are always on the move,” said S Rajendran, Chief Marketing Officer, Acer India.

Either or both

Naveen Mishra, Analyst, Communications Research space, IDC India, said that carrying a smartphone is easier than toting a laptop as one can still access the information and do the same work. He added, “Many users complain about ultraportable notebooks that the keyboard is too small, memory is insufficient, and no optical drive is present and that the device is not as functional as a normal notebook.”

According to Rajendran, both devices have their own niches. Smartphones are used for communication and Netbooks for functionality. For instance, to view attachments like PDF, DOC, etc, phones aren’t very convenient. Even if they have the software that lets you view or even edit an attachment, the resolution is low and screen small making it hard to view the document properly.

On the other hand a netbook like the Aspire One has a LCD size of just 8.9” and weighs less than one kg. It is not only compact (smaller than the average office diary) but offers numerous connectivity possibilities, a full and easy-to-use software application suite and battery life of up to three hours. The keyboard is also 90% the size of a normal notebook.

Ajay Sharma, Country Head, HTC (India) agreed that smartphones have some limitations like smaller screen size and that they are not suited for high data usage. However, he believed that smartphones and laptops are independent products and that the mobile can provide a combined voice and data experience.

He added, “The telecom industry is growing and mobile phone penetration is increasing. Few years down the line, more users will migrate from SMS to mail and hence the adoption of smartphones will rise. In just one year, HTC has sold over 200,000 devices including our 11 GSM and two CDMA models. All these devices run Windows Mobile as we wanted to provide a user-friendly experience at a low price, similar to what consumers get while working on a PC. To enhance their experience we try to provide larger screen size of 2.8 inches (maximum). The price of our products ranges from Rs 10,000-30,000.”

According to Mishra from IDC, there is no significant comparison between high-end smartphones and low-end notebooks as both are used depending on one’s needs. Top executives use high-end mobile phones to check mail, edit and review data and for detail work like presentations, they prefer notebooks.

Sharma revealed that the mid- and high-level executives such as CEOs and managers use both smartphones and laptops. For students, mobile phones are about making a style statement which will never be countered by laptops as they cannot always carry it.

He added, “Smartphones are increasingly becoming popular amongst mobile users, who want access to their office mail and connect to the Web as they support anytime, anywhere access over the cellular network. On the other hand, in the case of a laptop, one needs Wi-Fi access.”

The notebook was designed taking into account current usage models of the consumers, anticipating future trends and needs and then blending the best available technology with software intelligence to simplify their future and people are adopting it. In just three days 12 Aspire One models were sold from Croma outlets,” mentioned Rajendran.

[The verdict is yet to be announced but so far smartphones have both the first mover advantage and the sales numbers on their side. They offer a more integrated experience and cost less both in terms of cost of acquisition and running cost. That said, Netbooks do offer richer functionality and high-end smartphones cost more than Netbooks. The jury is out on this one. We expect things to clarify by mid-2009. The consumers will vote with their wallets and purses by then on which device format (or both) they prefer. –Ed]

vinita.gupta@expressindia.com