French electronics manufacturer Thomson is the latest brand to foray into the laptop category in India. The OEM is working towards finalising a local contract manufacturer based out of Noida, Uttar Pradesh to start assembling devices within the country, said a report by ET Telecom, quoting a senior executive. Thomson is currently selling its laptops in several European countries, including France.
The company made a re-entry into India in 2018 via a strategic partnership with homegrown SPPL, similar to what we have seen brands like Blaupaunkt doing. Thomson currently sells only televisions in India via e-commerce site Flipkart and would follow the same for its laptops, the ET Telecom report added.
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This comes days after 44 IT hardware manufacturers including global PC makers registered for manufacturing laptops, tablets and personal computers (PCs) in India, according to a report by news agency PTI, quoting a government official. Notably, the Indian government's new restrictions on the import of laptops will be implemented from November 1 and Thomson is apparently aiming to capture the segment and sees this as an opportunity.
The official, without naming any company, said that IT hardware production in the country is expected to repeat the success that has been achieved in mobile phone manufacturing under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme.
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The government has fixed August 30 as the last date for manufacturing IT hardware under Rs 17,000-crore PLI scheme.
"Leading laptop companies have registered for PLI and some of them are ready to start manufacturing in India any time. Global server companies have said that they want to make India an export hub for servers," the official said.
According to Counterpoint Research, Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple and Acer were the top five companies in the personal computer segment in the June 2023 quarter. Research Director of Counterpoint Research Tarun Pathak said the total laptop and PC market size in India is close to $ 8 billion annually, and approximately 65 per cent of the units are imported.
The government has also announced a plan to allow the import of laptops, tablets and personal computers with valid licenses in restricted category from November 1.