The gaming industry in India is evolving, albeit slowly but it is surely going to be a lucrative market in a few years from now. The market presently witnesses a massive evolution in terms of the accessibility and adaptability of gaming products and devices. From 30.8 billion Indian rupees in 2016, the value of the Indian gaming industry is expected to be worth 71 billion Indian rupees in 2021.
Some of the gaming trends that we have seen in 2018 are – eSports gaining prominence in the country (based on a projected compound annual growth rate of 32 percent, this most watched gaming event is estimated to be worth about $1.5 billion by 2020); Virtual Reality (VR) going mainstream; rise in the multiplayer online games (MMO) and a new boom of the gaming development space.
Having said this, it is no surprise that gaming software companies, most importantly hardware vendors are rushing in to grab a bigger market share by developing more and more such gaming products that promise a gaming experience which is both immersive and rewarding.
The Gaming Laptop story…
With laptops slowly taking over desktops for every kind of computing needs, it could not have possibly left behind in the gaming race. Sure enough, in order to make them more lucrative, hardware brands can now be seen placing their expanded gaming laptop range before their gaming customers at reduced prices and with attractive pricing deals on them.
So what is driving this push? The fact that the gaming market in India is now advancing from casual to serious gamers and the massive scope of reaching out to untapped gamers across Tier I and Tier II cities is what is driving these companies to focus more on the gaming laptop space for now.
The advantage of having a gaming laptop is that it offers the same or sometimes even better performance and can be carried anywhere, without having to leave a game in between.
That gaming previously used to be confined only to an elite section of gamers does not hold true anymore today. That is because a laptop is today available at a price range of 50,000 INR to 65,000 INR with better specifications, performance and stunning visual graphics (which otherwise used to cost Rs 1 lakh or above a few years back) that are targeted at casual gamers. In fact, many brands have started segregating their products based on whether they target casual or professional gamers. For instance, Acer’s Predator series is aimed at professional gamers while its Nitro series is targeted at casual gamers.
What’s new with the Top 5 gaming laptop brands?
Acer
Acer is betting big by focusing on bringing powerful and unique gaming innovations that offers exceptional performance within a wide range of budget. The latest in its kitty is the new Predator Helios 500, the ultimate gaming notebook made available in India. The Predator Helios 500, features up to 8th Gen Intel Core i9-8950HK with Nvidia GTX1070 8GB Graphics or AMD Ryzen 7 2700 with AMD Vega 56 Graphics. Also in its portfolio is the Nitro 5 gaming laptop, powered by the latest 6 Core high performance 8th Generation Intel Core processor with Optane memory or AMD Ryzen 5 processor.
Asus
ASUS through its sub-brand, Republic of Gamers (ROG) formed in 2006 is dedicated to creating the world’s best gaming hardware and software. ROG had in August announced 2 formidable gaming laptops – the Strix SCAR II and Hero II. While Strix SCAR II (GL504GS) is powered by the 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H, the ROG Strix Hero II (GL504GM) featured the 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H.
Lenovo
Another name to reckon with, Lenovo too has products that are market ready for gamers. In 2017, to dedicatedly focus on the gaming segment, Lenovo announced the launch of Legion gaming brand in India and strengthen its Y-series of portfolio. The latest are the Legion Y730 (featuring the 8th Gen Intel Core mobile processors with support for Intel Optane technology) and Legion Y530 (its processor options include the 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8750H or an Intel Core i5-8300H with graphics card choices that include a GeForce GTX 1050, 1050 Ti, and a GeForce GTX 1060) laptops that were made available to Indian customers from September 2018.
Dell
Dell has recently launched the refreshed Alienware 15 and 17 gaming notebooks, and the Dell G3 and G7 laptops in its G-series. The new Alienware 15 and 17 feature as high as Intel Core i9 processors and is powered by Nvidia GeForce GTX graphics. The Dell G3 15 is powered by the 8th Gen Intel Core processors along with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 TI graphics. The Dell G7 15 has the option of 8th Gen Intel Core i9 processors along with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060.
HP Inc.
With Gaming seen today as one of the world’s fastest growing PC categories, it has become a billion-dollar business for HP. HP Inc. India hadin July unveiled its new Pavilion Gaming rangedesigned for mainstream gamers along with the new HP OMEN 15 for performance and enthusiast gamers. The Pavilion range is powered by the 8th Gen Intel Core i7 H-serieswith NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti. On the other hand, the OMEN 15 has VR ready NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 and features 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processors.
So what’s in store for the festive season?
Visit any e-commerce platforms (Flipkart, Amazon) and you will find exclusive offers and schemes just ready to surprise you. In fact, for customers’ convenience, they have even made exclusive sections on their websites focusing just on gaming hardware. This is true even with MFRs (Multi-Functional Retailers), large format retailers (LFRs) like Croma, Reliance Digital and exclusive single brand stores.
-Samrita
