The laptop industry is booming in India and this has attracted major players (domestic as well as MNCs). The advent of new technologies available at a cheaper rate also augurs well for the consumers. This paper aims to understand the present usage pattern (mainly in the city of Kolkata), extracting factors that influence the consumers' buying decisions and their relative importance. Also top-of-the-mind recall analysis has been conducted to see present standings of various laptop brands. A comparative analysis has been done to know the price-performance of various brands with respect to chosen configuration. Finally, the model for customer purchase decision as a function of the customers' perception about the company, i.e., brand, quality, service, etc. (p1), the price of the offer (p2), product features (p3), promotional offers (p4) and market maturity (p5) have been validated and strategies have been worked out.

The Indian laptop industry has been witnessing a boom in recent times. Apart from the rapidly falling prices of laptops and new technologies being packed into ultra-slick laptops, the entry of nontraditional players to develop wireless infrastructure has given the market a further boost. For instance, a few years ago, wireless connectivity on the laptop was considered to be a luxury. Today, it has become a necessity with major hospitality chains in India establishing wireless hotspots. Also many firms, airports and even schools are planning/or have implemented WiFi.

International Data Corporation (IDC)—the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets—inferred that India is the third fastest growing laptop market in the Asian region, with a compound annual growth rate of 21.9 percent. Those numbers match IDC India's forecast for the PC market, since it has projected a growth of 22.2 percent for the Indian PC market in 2003 (IDC, 2004 and 2005). While many factors can be credited to this surge in the laptop segment, the biggest driver is probably the fact that businesses are posting healthy numbers and have started encouraging their employees to work from home. Today, even non-IT companies are giving laptops to their executives in a bid to boost productivity. The spurt in laptop usage can also be attributed to the increasing usage of IT and the automation of the sales force in sectors like pharmaceuticals, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and services, and in government offerings (Chris Long, 2005).

The real opportunity, however, lies in exploiting the market to its fullest potential. For instance, the Indian market for laptops and handheld devices is still small compared to other Asian countries. According to Rajiev Grover, Business Manager, Mobile Products, HP India, laptop sales account for only 2 percent in India whereas the corresponding figures for Thailand, Korea and Australia are 10, 15 and 20 percent respectively (David and Steve, 2005 and MIC, 2005). The market dynamics of PCs and laptops are different. Two-thirds of PC sales come from white-box manufacturers. There are no such manufacturers for laptops. The laptop market has done well in comparison to sales of branded PCs from the Indian and MNC vendors, which shows sales figures of 60,000 laptops against 700,000 for branded PCs (Newsletter from Acer India, 2004).

Management Research Journal, Price-Performance Analysis, International Data Corporation, IDC, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, FMCG, Market Intelligence Center, Data Analysis Methods, Biometric Technologies, Information Technology, Indian Laptop Industry.