How Dell is battling the smartphone in India

After burning its fingers with smartphones and tablets, Dell has decided to throw all its weight behind its PC range, betting that users would eventually switch over to laptops and desktops from ‘smaller-screen’ mobile phones.

The company is promoting touch laptops that enable a smartphone-like experience on a larger screen.

“In India, where PC adoption is barely 8-9% in most households, we see a huge potential market, and we are prepared to wait for people to make the switch, in terms of screen size, from smartphones to laptops or desktops,” said P Krishnakumar, executive director and general manager, consumer and SB, Dell India.

The latter promises a much faster processor and a better interface for consuming content such as movies, books and videos.

“Besides, a larger screen is also helpful for working on spreadsheets and Power-Point presentations,” he said.

To make the transition easier, the company is offering touch laptops at the lowest industry price of Rs 31,690. In fact, Dell has lowered the prices of all its other products as well.

“In 2012, the PC market shifted to low-cost models, and Dell saw its rank fall from No.3 to No.5 in the consumer and SMB businesses. We realised this was due to the high cost of our devices and hence in December we introduced a new range of products at an entry-level price of Rs 25,000-30,000, matching industry offerings, said Krishnakumar.

The company also started a separate channel dedicated to SMBs, offering them customised products with flexible warranty period and provided technical experts for office installation, besides 24/7 customer care service.

To capture the young generation, Dell launched a youth-centric customer campaign targeting 300 schools in the top cities to educate students on PC usage and encourage them to buy its products.

“Together, this three-pronged strategy helped Dell to become the No.2 player in both the consumer and SMB markets by the next quarter (January-March), with current market share of 13% and 11% in the consumer business and SMB business, respectively, “ said Krishnakumar.

This year, Dell is targeting 400 schools and will launch discount offers for students in a week or two.

The firm is also targeting the fast-growing tier-2 market. It plans to set up exclusive stores in 48 small towns in the next two months, invest in vernacular ads and conduct roadshows to educate the youth on how technology can change their lives.

But doesn’t Dell, which exited smartphones globally, want to return?

“Even given the fact that a user’s first experience of the Internet will probably be on the smartphone in India, going forward, we have no plans to re-enter this market,” said Krishnakumar.

Dell’s top-selling product continues to be Inspiron notebooks with monthly sales of up to 9 lakh units, followed by All-in-One range and laptops.