Women go for lighter, sleeker laptops
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
For Mandy, 28, owning a portable computer is a must for her job at a noted film production company in the country.
As her job requires high mobility and flexibility, Mandy never leaves her home without her 12-inch notebook.
"I decided to buy a small-size laptop as it's easier to carry apart from its sleek and attractive design," said Mandy, who has had the notebook for three years.
Angelina Sondakh, a legislator and a member of the Putri Indonesia Association, opts for a compact notebook to stay stylish and modern. For her, notebooks have become a way of life.
With more working people turned mobile, they need the little electronic helpers equipped with office and multimedia applications as well as modern three-dimensional games.
Such a demand has been answered by computer manufacturers who are competing to produce laptops of smaller size and lighter weight endowed with wireless capabilities.
Among the manufacturers is Acer that recently launched a new portable notebook, TravelMate 3000, which weighs only three pounds.
The notebook, which uses Intel Centrino mobile technology, has various high-end features, such as an Intel Pentium M 740 processor, 60 Gigabyte (GB) hard disk drive and DDR2 512 Megabyte (Mb) memory capacity.
PT Acer Indonesia Marketing and Communication Manager Reinhart Poli said the TravelMate 3000, which was released this month at US$1,599, was aimed at various sectors including small and medium enterprises (SME), Small Office Home Office (SOHO) as well as individual users.
"Women and travelers are two of the potential users, besides business professionals and corporate executives. For women, the notebooks give a touch of fashion, elegance and maturity," he said.
Reinhart said that Acer, with laptops representing 60 percent of its products, controls a 22.2 percent share in the country's notebook market. In the desktop segment, Acer has a 5.1 percent market share.
He added that the company is targeting an annual increase of 20 percent in its notebook sales volume, which reaches 2,500 to 3,000 units per quarter.
According to market research firm Gartner, the world will have a 15 percent annual increase in the number of professionals using notebooks between 2003 and 2008. (001)