Computer-maker Dell will focus on the premium, ultra-slim segment of PCs in India and is “bullish” on its enterprise business.

“It is a growing part of the market. If you look at where we are placed , in the high-price band category, which cuts across ultra-slim (greater than $800), we are number 1 in the commercial segment. For us, it is important to maintain that lead and grow incrementally,” Vivekanand Manjeri, Brand Director, Client Solutions Group, Dell India, told BusinessLine .

The company on Friday launched what it claimed is the world’s smallest 14-inch ‘2-in-1’ laptop (with a touchscreen), the Latitude 7400 2-in-1.

The Latitude line-up is Dell’s commercial laptop offering, mostly aimed at enterprises. Dell is seeing a lot of traction from the enterprise side, Manjeri added. “Most organisations are now starting to profile their workforce and trying to optimise the most productive device for a person to use,” he said.

Many youngsters joining the workforce have high technology expectations from their organisations and this drives the need for better devices, a trend that Dell expects will increase. According to data from research firm IDC, the ultra-slim category, which is 25.3 per cent of the total PC market, grew by 86.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2019.

Ultra-slim category

“Spending towards Ultra-slim notebooks is increasing, owing to factors such as improved mobility due to the thinness of the product and enhanced aesthetics,” said a statement from IDC.

According to Manjeri, the new 7400 2-in-1 has been developed with inputs from Dell’s consumer-focussed brands like the XPS.

“Some of the great features in XPS - the portability, the carbon fibre material, all of them caught on, and we started seeing our customers ask for such features in our commercial notebooks,” he said. With widespread smartphone use, customers also expect to see smartphone features on their laptops.

“A lot of the expectations from our end customers have come from the iPhone experience and what happened with smartphones,” said Manjeri.

He also said that among the 2-in-1 devices, detachable products (where the screen can be detached and functions as a tablet) are seeing a declining demand whereas people are preferring convertibles (which can be flipped, but not detached), because they can pack in a lot more features.

Dell is also seeing significant growth in its workstations, with demand being driven by the manufacturing and services industries.

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