Post JioPhone Success, Jio To Launch INR 15K Laptop

Digital giant Reliance Jio is reportedly planning to launch a laptop priced under INR 15,000 for the general public in the next three months.

The telco has already opened orders for schools and government institutes and plans to roll out the laptops for sale by January 2023, Reuters reported citing sources.

Called JioBook, the device will come embedded with a 4G SIM card, although it is not immediately clear if it will come pre-bundled with a Jio SIM card. The rollout is expected to be followed by the launch of a 5G version of the laptop.

“This will be as big as JioPhone,” one of the sources told Reuters.

JioBook will operate on the in-house developed JioOS operating system and will deploy Qualcomm chips based on design architecture licensed from British tech major Arm. Besides, some of Microsoft’s apps will also be available on the laptop.

The device will reportedly be produced in India in collaboration with contract manufacturer Flex. A source further added that Jio aims to sell ‘hundreds of thousands’ of units by March, adding that the laptop will also be pitched as an alternative to tablets for out-of-office corporate employees.

The device will primarily compete with global giants such as Taiwanese major Acer, Chinese player Lenovo  and the homegrown company Lava.

The Jio Juggernaut

From the looks of it, Jio’s foray into the laptop segment has coincided with a similar strategy adopted during the launch of its telecom services. Its launch in 2016 saw the conglomerate offer free 4G internet and voice calls to woo users and that bet appears to have paid off. Jio is currently the number uno telecom service provider in the country. 

As per the latest estimates, Jio had 41.59 Cr subscribers in the country and bundling its laptop with its SIM card could give further impetus to its wireless and broadband user base. On top of that, the prospective 5G laptop launch could also see Jio deploy the new device to spruce up its 5G subscriber numbers. 

However, the launch could also face headwinds for a slew of reasons including a non-Windows offering which has largely been shirked by users in the past. In a space led by giants such as Dell and HP, JioBook could see big resistance as the Mukesh Ambani-led company seeks to expand its range to target high-end users.

Even though Jio operates a network of service centres for its telecom and mobile phone offerings, scaling up the dealer chain to include repairing centres for laptops could emerge as a big hurdle. 

According to a recent report, India’s PC shipments, which includes desktops, notebooks and tablets, grew 12% year-on-year (YoY) in the second quarter (Q2) of calendar year 2022 (CY22) to 4.6 Mn units. 

HP, Lenovo and Dell led the charts, together accounting for 57.6% of the total market share. Budget laptop brand Acer still accounted for a hefty 11.3% of the Indian PC shipments.