Having caught on to prevailing attitudes in India, PC makers are sidelining ultra-slim laptops in favour of conventional models.

Seven-inch, ultra-slim notebooks, meant to meet basic computing needs such as checking emails and surfing the internet, have failed to impress Indian customers, who prefer 8.9-inch, fully functional notebooks.

Last month Hewlett-Packard launched its 8.9-inch Mini Notebook. Asus is also expected to launch 8.9-inch and 10-inch models by next month. According to sources, Dell and Acer are likely to follow suit.

The sudden growth for such machines is easy to understand, according to Anurag Arora, country manager for business notebooks in HP India's personal systems group. 'These are lightweight laptops and fully loaded. At the same time, earlier, one had to pay about 30 per cent more for these small form factor machines as against the traditional machines,” he told the Financial Express.

He said, these machines have Indian youth as their potential target. Prices for such laptops will range between Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000. Asus expects to sell 15,000 units per month, and will target educational institutions for its 8.9-inch and 10-inch machines.

Although companies plan to target students and educational institutions, PC market research firm, IDC says compact laptops will take time to gain popularity with the young, but will in the meantime be a hit among corporate users who travel frequently. X