Reliance Jio to launch low cost 4G laptop, report

After launching low cost 4G smartphones, Reliance Jio is working on a low-cost 4G-enabled laptop, reported Reuters citing unnamed sources. Aimed at school students and government institutions, the laptop is expected to be called JioBook and roll out sometime in late 2022 or early 2023 in the vicinity of ₹15,000, the report stated. 

Low-cost laptops have a huge potential given that India’s PC penetration is only 12%, according to industry analysts. 

However, the segment has very limited options available right now as most OEMs don’t cater to it due to lower margins. Most buyers in this segment prefer big screen budget smartphones or tablets for their educational and other requirements. 

Some OEMs such as Asus still offer low-cost laptops that cost under ₹20,000. Hyderabad-based company RDP Workstations Pvt. Ltd has developed ₹10,000 laptops powered by Intel Atom processor and Debian Linus OS in collaboration with IIT Mumbai.  

The average selling price (ASP) of laptops has also increased since the pandemic. Mint had reported in January that the ASP of laptops that was around ₹50,000 in early 2020 increased to ₹65,000 in 2021. 

Industry analysts had attributed the increase in ASP to shortage of components, supply cost hikes and IEMs focusing more on high-end products for higher margins. 

India emerged as one of the fastest growing PC markets in the world after Covid-19 outbreak as demand for laptops grew to support remote work and remote learning. However, the demand has started to slow. 

According to a September report by market researcher Canalys, though PC shipments grew by 12% Year-on-year (YoY) in the June quarter, the number of units shipped during the quarter fell below the 5-million-mark for the first time in four quarters. 

Jio is also working with Google on a low cost 5G smartphone, said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) at the company’s 45th annual general meeting (AGM) in August.