How Hong Kong-based Nexstgo aims to crack the laptop segment in India

The smartphone segment in India continues to grow, and we keep witnessing the entry of new brands into the market. But when it comes to the laptop segment, the competitive landscape has barely changed in the country over the years. So how does Hong Kong-based startup Nexstgo aim to crack the category? That’s what we were interested to know when we met the brand’s India General Manager, Seema Bhatnagar. Established in 2016, the company has an aggressive strategy to make its mark in the world’s second-largest market. Here’s what we took away from our discussion.

On the laptop market in India

We wanted to understand the brand’s understanding of the laptop segment in India, and Ms Bhatnagar was very upfront when she said “Nexstgo aims to educate consumers. Consumers are missing out somewhere as they don’t even know what an SSD is,” she said. She even went on to mention the fact that features like “Windows Hello for user authentication aren’t available in most laptops, and hence users don’t even know what they are and their benefits.” This proved to a nice segue for our next talking point…

On how Nexstgo is aiming to stand out from the rivals

Citing an example of its debut laptop Nexstgo PRIMUS NX101 (review), Ms Bhatnagar said that the device comes with both fingerprint and face unlock security which works with Windows Hello to offer a better authentication experience. “Nexstgo isn’t a cheap brand and aims to give a lot (of value) to consumers. From features like a full HD display to Windows Pro, and from MIL-STD-810G rating to Dolby sound support the laptop offers a lot of interesting features over and above core aspects. That’s not all, our laptops will be available with a three-year international warranty,” she pointed out.

Ms Seema also said that “Nexstgo doesn’t want to be in the game of numbers… we’re not even in the game of gaining 10 percent market share in the country. We’re here to make to make a change. I’d be really happy if we are able to sell 2,000 or 5,000 units with a very good sell-in and sell-out, and very good customer support.“

On the brand’s India strategy

One interesting thing about Nexstgo is that the company will be catering to both B2B as well as B2C users. “We’ll have separate sales infrastructure for businesses and consumers.” said Ms Bhatnagar. In fact, the company has also tied up with B2B retailers and plans to partner with companies like Bajaj Finance and Reliance Capital to offer EMI financing to companies when they’re ordering in bulk.

The PRIMUS series is meant for the those who are looking for premium laptops, while the brand also has its SU range to cater to startups, with prices starting from Rs 38,990. Worth noting that the brand will be making these laptops available to consumers too, if they wish to purchase them. Along with being sold in offline stores, these laptops are also listed on Amazon.in and Flipkart. “For businesses, Nexstgo can also customise the laptops in terms of adding logos or changing some specs, because we have our own factory“, as per Ms Bhatnagar.

On the brand’s laptop roadmap in the country

While the company has made its entry into the segment with business-centric laptops, it’ll be launching consumer-grade laptops soon. In fact, they’ll be announced tomorrow at an event in New Delhi under the Avita series. Ms Seema gave us a few details, saying ”the Avita Liber series has three laptops, spread across screen sizes of 12.5-inches, 13.3-inches, and 14-inches. All these laptops come with aluminium construction and are available in as many as 14 unique colours.“

Upon asking what else Nexstgo has in store for Indian consumers, Ms Bhatnagar told that the company will also be venturing into the booming gaming laptop category. She said “currently, our gaming laptop is in testing phases, but it’ll fearure a screen size of 15.6-inches or more along with a dedicated GPU from NVIDIA.” As to when we can expect it in the market, she said that “we’ll be launching the gaming laptop(s) by end of February or early March.“

On foraying into the other categories

Interestingly, Nexstgo doesn’t want to be limited to the laptop segment. Staying true to its motto of “We do what the giants can’t“, the brand has a range of IoT products as well. It has already launched Avita Smart Mirror and Smart Scale, and will be expanding the portfolio soon. Talking about them, Ms Bhatnagar said “the Smart Mirror is available in two models with a starting price of Rs 49,000, while the Smart Scale is an affordable option for anyone who wants to get more stats about their body, including BMI, Calorie, Body fat, etc.“

“In the future, we’ll be launching sleeping pillow, sleeping tracker among other things,” she teased.

from 91mobiles.com http://bit.ly/2AYgfHc
>