CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND DESIGN OF THE STUDY

1.1 INTRODUCTION The introduction of computer technology to the consumer market brought with it an evolution of change within the household that is comparable to the likes of radios and televisions in the 20th century. It served as a catalyst in jumpstarting not only how consumers obtain information but also the rapidity, quality and density with which they retrieve it. Computers serve as a source of entertainment in addition to its role as resource and productivity tool. Over the years as the benefits of household computers exponentially increased while simultaneously being realized, the technology had equally improved at the same rate. What was once a massive box and monitor taking up an entire desktop was now a sleek, stylish addition to ones dcor, the size of a coffee table book. What had piggybacked on this technology boom was the paradigm shift in the computer industry from highly proprietary, differentiated and premium-priced hardware to industry-standard,

commoditized components that were priced accordingly. Despite the loss of high margin goods, manufacturers continued to push the boundaries of the technology to deliver one more choice point to the consumer mobile computing. The explosion of laptop/mobile notebooks on to the market further improved user productivity and introduced a sense of freedom otherwise unknown. Similar to any market where a hot product enters, manufacturers were quick to replicate and develop their own under their brand.

Fast forward from the introduction of the computer to the laptop today, where the market has become saturated with well-known brands, each offering nearly indistinguishable products to a population of consumers that are now more educated, have easier access to more information to compare and contrast competitive products and ultimately make a much more fact-based, informed decision. While consumers enjoy the benefit of being more educated with public access to free information regarding laptops, manufacturers continue to conduct studies on consumer behaviors behind closed doors. Little to no market segmentation exists publicly that states who the laptop buyer really is. A computer is a programmable machine designed to automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem. An important class of computer operations on some computing platforms is the accepting of input from human operators and the output of results formatted for human consumption. The interface between the computer and the human operator is known as the user interface. Conventionally a computer consists of some form of memory, at least one element that carries out arithmetic and logic operations, and a sequencing and control unit that can change the order of operations based on the information that is stored. Peripheral devices allow information to be entered from an external source, and allow the results of operations to be sent out. A computer's processing unit executes series of instructions that make it read, manipulate and then store data. Conditional instructions change the sequence of instructions as a function of the current state of the machine or its environment.

The first electronic digital computers were developed in the mid-20th century (19401945). Originally, they were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs). In this era mechanical analog computers were used for military applications. Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space. Simple computers are small enough to fit into mobile devices, and small batteries can power mobile computers. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". However, the embedded computers found in many devices from mp3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are the most numerous. The first use of the word "computer" was recorded in 1613, referring to a person who carried out calculations, or computations, and the word continued with the same meaning until the middle of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century the word began to take on its more familiar meaning, a machine that carries out computations. Personal Computer A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator. In contrast, the batch processing or time-sharing models allowed larger, more expensive minicomputer and mainframe systems to be used by many people, usually at the same time. Large data

processing systems require a full-time staff to operate efficiently. Consoles can also be considered personal computers. Software applications for personal computers include, but are not limited to, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, Web browsers and e-mail clients, digital media playback, games, and myriad personal productivity and special-purpose software applications. Modern personal computers often have connections to the Internet, allowing access to the World Wide Web and a wide range of other resources. Personal computers may be connected to a local area network (LAN), either by a cable or a wireless connection. A personal computer may be a desktop computer or a laptop, tablet, or a handheld PC. Types of Personal Computers Workstation A workstation is a high-end personal computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. Workstations are used for tasks such as computer-aided design, drafting and modeling, computationintensive scientific and engineering calculations, image processing, architectural modeling, and computer graphics for animation and motion picture visual effects. Desktop computer Prior to the wide spread usage of PCs, a computer that could fit on a desk was remarkably small. Today the phrase usually indicates a particular style of computer case.

Desktop computers come in a variety of styles ranging from large vertical tower cases to small form factor models that can be tucked behind an LCD monitor. In this sense, the term 'desktop' refers specifically to a horizontally oriented case, usually intended to have the display screen placed on top to save space on the desktop. Most modern desktop computers have separate screens and keyboards. Gaming Computer Games have been on computers since 1962 when Spacewar! was released. Today Personal Computer Gaming or PC gaming is a very popular pass-time. Gaming computers tend to also be about the looks of the case rather than just the specifications of the hardware. A gaming computer needs to be much more powerful than a PC that someone is using to do office work and to surf the Internet. Single unit Single unit PCs, also known as all-in-one PCs, are a subtype of desktop computers, which combine the monitor and case of the computer within a single unit. The monitor often utilizes a touch screen as an optional method of user input, however detached keyboards and mice are normally still included. The inner components of the PC are often located directly behind the monitor, and many are built similarly to laptops.

Nettop Intel introduced a subtype of desktops, nettops in February 2008 to describe lowcost, lean-function, desktop computers. A similar subtype of laptops or notebooks is the

netbooks. The product line features the new Intel Atom processor, which specially enables them to consume less power and to be built into small enclosures. Home Theatre PC A home theatre PC (HTPC) is a convergence device that combines the functions of a personal computer and a digital video recorder. It is connected to a television or a television-sized computer display and is often used as a digital photo, music, video player, TV receiver and digital video recorder. Home theatre PCs are also referred to as media center systems or media servers. Mobile Computers Laptop A laptop computer or simply laptop, also called a notebook computer, is a small personal computer designed for portability. Usually all of the interface hardware needed to operate the laptop, such as USB ports, previously parallel and serial ports, graphics card, sound channel, etc., is built in to a single unit. Laptops contain high capacity batteries that can power the device for extensive periods of time, enhancing portability. Once the battery charge is depleted, it will have to be recharged through a power outlet. In the interest of saving power, weight and space, they usually share RAM with the video channel, slowing their performance compared to an equivalent desktop machine. For this reason, Desktop or Gaming computers are generally preferred to laptop PCs for gaming purposes. One main drawback of the laptop is sometimes, due to the size and configuration of components, relatively little can be done to upgrade the overall computer from its original

design. Internal upgrades are either not manufacturer recommended, can damage the laptop if done with poor care or knowledge, or in some cases impossible, making the desktop PC more modular. Some internal upgrades, such as memory and hard disks upgrades are often easy; a display or keyboard upgrade is usually impossible. The laptop has the same access as the desktop to the wide variety of devices, such as external displays, mice, cameras, storage devices and keyboards, which may be attached externally through USB ports and other less common ports such as external video. A subtype of notebooks, called subnotebooks, are computers with most of the features of a standard laptop computer but smaller. They are larger than hand-held computers, and usually run full versions of desktop/laptop operating systems. Ultra-Mobile PCs (UMPC) are usually considered subnotebooks, or more specifically, subnotebook Tablet PCs. Netbooks are sometimes considered in this category, though they are sometimes separated in a category of their own. Desktop Replacement A desktop replacement computer (DTR) is a personal computer that provides the full capabilities of a desktop computer while remaining mobile. They are often larger, bulkier laptops. Because of their increased size, this class of computer usually includes more powerful components and a larger display than generally used in smaller portable computers and can have a relatively limited battery capacity or none at all. Some use a limited range of desktop components to provide better performance at the expense of battery life. These are sometimes called desk notes, a portmanteau of the words "desktop" and "notebook," though the term is also applied to desktop replacement computers in

general. Netbook Netbooks, also called mini notebooks or sub notebooks, are a rapidly evolving category of small, light and inexpensive laptop computers suited for general computing and accessing web-based applications; they are often marketed as "companion devices," that is, to augment a user's other computer access. Walt called them a "relatively new category of small, light, minimalist and cheap laptops. By August 2009, CNET called netbooks "nothing more than smaller, cheaper notebooks. Tablet PC A tablet PC is a notebook or slate-shaped mobile computer. Its touch screen or graphics tablet/screen hybrid technology allows the user to operate the computer with a stylus or digital pen, or a fingertip, instead of a keyboard or mouse. The form factor offers a more mobile way to interact with a computer. Tablet PCs are often used where normal notebooks are impractical or unwieldy, or do not provide the needed functionality. Recently, tablet PCs have been given operating systems normally used on phones, like Android or iOS. This gives them many of the same uses as a phone, but with more power and functionality. Ultra-mobile PC The ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) is a specification for a small form factor of tablet PCs. It was developed as a joint development exercise by Microsoft, Intel, and Samsung.

Current UMPCs typically feature the Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Linux operating system and low-voltage Intel Atom or VIA C7-M processors. Pocket PC A pocket PC is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer (personal digital assistant) that runs the Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system. It may have the capability to run an alternative operating system like NetBSD or Linux. It has many of the capabilities of modern desktop PCs. Laptop A laptop computer is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit. A laptop is powered by mains electricity via an AC adapter, and can be used away from an outlet using a rechargeable battery. Portable computers, originally monochrome CRT-based and developed into the modern laptops, were originally considered to be a small niche market, mostly for specialized field applications such as the military, accountants and sales representatives. As portable computers became smaller, lighter, cheaper, more powerful and as screens became larger and of better quality, laptops became very widely used for all sorts of purposes, by all sorts of people. As the personal computer became feasible in the early 1970s, the idea of a portable personal computer followed. A "personal, portable information manipulator" was imagined

by Alan Kay at Xerox PARC in 1968, and described in his 1972 paper as the "Dynabook". The IBM SCAMP project (Special Computer APL Machine Portable) was demonstrated in 1973. This prototype was based on the PALM processor (Put All Logic In Microcode). The IBM 5100, the first commercially available portable computer, appeared in September 1975, and was based on the SCAMP prototype. The term "laptop" can refer to a number of classes of small portable computers: Full-size Laptop: A laptop large enough to accommodate a "full-size" keyboard (a keyboard with the minimum QWERTY key layout, which is at least 13.5 keys across that are on (0.750) inch centers, plus some room on both ends for the case). The measurement of at least 11 inches across has been suggested as the threshold for this class. The first laptops were the size of a standard U.S. "A size" notebook sheet of paper (8.5 11 inches), but later "A4-size" laptops were introduced, which were the width of a standard ISO 216 A4 sheet of paper (297 mm, or about 11.7 inches), and added a vertical column of keys to the right and wider screens. It can also be laid sideways when not in use. Netbook: A smaller, lighter, more portable laptop. It is also usually cheaper than a full-size laptop, but has fewer features and less computing power. Smaller keyboards can be more difficult to operate. There is no sharp line of demarcation between netbooks and inexpensive small laptops; some 11.6" models are marketed as netbooks. Since netbook laptops are quite small in size, netbooks typically do not come with an internal optical drive.

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Tablet PC: These have touch screens. There are "convertible tablets" with a full keyboard where the screen rotates to be used atop the keyboard, and "slate" formfactor machines, which are usually, touch-screen only.

Rugged: Engineered to operate in tough conditions like mechanical shocks, extreme temperatures, wet and dusty environments, etc.

Features of Laptop T The laptop computers are meant for improving the convenience of users. It is portable due to lightweight. They have many features when compared to desktop c computers. They can be used while traveling also. The laptop computers are smaller in size and are energy efficient. The parts used to make them are expensive. The facilities provided in a laptop are similar to that of a desktop computer. Different versions of laptops are available in the market with large screens, high c capacity graphic cards etc. the specialty of laptops include lightweight and lower energy consumption. They are less noisy and easy to handle. Similar to desktop computers the laptop computers include motherboard, processor, hard disk, memory, graphic card, k keyboard, mouse and display device. The disadvantage is that it does not support for expansion or upgrade. The laptops are equipped with built in wireless network cards. It facilitates users to connect to the Internet without a cable. Laptop Touchpad Laptops don't generally come with a mouse. Instead, laptops have a smooth, rectangular, touch-sensitive area in front of the keyboard. Moving the finger across the

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touchpad moves the cursor across the screen. Typically, one or two clickable buttons beneath or beside the touchpad act like mouse buttons. Some laptops have a tiny joystick built into the keyboard instead of a touchpad. A touchpad is more fiddly to use than a mouse, but its possible to attach a mouse instead if preferred. Keyboard on a laptop Unsurprisingly, a laptops keyboard is smaller than the ones that come with a desktop computer. The keys are closer together, and may also be smaller as the keyboard is built into the body of the laptop. Laptops usually have several USB ports. Like desktops, laptops come with USB ports, and often FireWire ports, for adding peripheral devices. Laptop Battery Life While all laptops come with a power supply for connection to the mains, they also have an internal battery for use on the move. Built-in webcams Many laptops come with a webcam built into the lid, just above the screen. Memory (RAM) A type of short-term memory, the processor uses the laptops random access memory (RAM) when it wants to perform tasks. Consequently, the speed at which the processor can operate is determined by the amount of Ram. Its usually possible to add more Ram to the laptop, but with the assistance of an expert.

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Laptop Processors Made by either Intel or AMD, the CPU is the main brain of the computer. It performs all the calculations the laptop makes every second. The speed of a processor is expressed in cycles per second, the unit for which is hertz (typically megahertz and gigahertz). Most laptop CPUs are now dual core, which means they are actually two processors on one chip that share the workload between them. Some current desktops come equipped with quad-core CPUs its only a matter of time before these reach the laptop market. Hard Drive The HDD (hard disk drive) provides long-term memory for data storage measured in gigabytes (GB). Solid-state storage Some laptops such as netbooks use solid-state storage rather than a conventional hard drive to store data. This uses less power and, since it has no moving parts, is more rugged. Screen All laptops come with their own built-in LCD screens. Screen size has a direct impact on the size of the laptop itself. A 15-inch display makes for a pretty standard-sized laptop. A desktop replacement-type laptop might come with a 17-inch display possibly even a widescreen one and ultra-portables might go as low as the 12-inch mark, while

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netbooks can be a squint-inducing 7 inches. More recent models have 10-inch or even 12inch displays. Graphics Laptops come with either integrated or dedicated graphics. Integrated graphics, which operate using a chunk of the laptops memory (RAM), are fine to do basic, everyday tasks. Operating system This is the software that runs the computer. Macs come with OS X and laptop PCs usually come with Windows Vista or, more recently, Windows 7.

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Optical Drive Most laptops come with a CD/DVD drive of some kind for playing CDs and DVDs, and most will allow burning own discs, too. Many laptops come with a multi-format burner, which can record to a variety of blank DVDs as well as CDs. All but the cheapest models include DVD burners. A DVD burner is useful for making own videos, as well as for backing up large amounts of data, since DVDs can hold much more data than CDs. Wireless Connectivity Most current laptops include built-in wireless connectivity. This means that it can be connected to the existing home wireless network or go online at a wireless hotspot. The latest wireless protocol is 802.11n, though many models still use the older 802.11g protocol. Connectivity The majority of new laptops include an array of ports and slots--USB 2.0, FireWire (IEEE1394), PCMCIA PC card slot, S-Video and VGA-out (monitor). With few ways to expand beyond their factory configuration, a laptop should have at least two USB ports plus a FireWire connection. As many laptops are now manufactured without a floppy drive, the USB ports are very useful for utilizing a jump drive for doing quick back-ups. A PCMCIA slot is also useful for adding wireless capability if it doesn't come as standard. Warranty and Service Contract

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After-sales support usually runs from one to three years. The minimum warranty should cover for twelve months with a return service that includes parts and labor costs. Some manufacturers offer up to three years of coverage as standard, with the first twelve months including parts and labor, and the remaining period labor only. Other Features Laptops have improved; they are available in hundreds of GB data capacity. GB or RAM available for programming and running heavy and advance software, higher screen resolutions for graphical work or picture quality conscious users, higher graphical cards and crystal quality sound and so much more have changed the way the notebooks machines are used now. It will be interesting to know what features are yet discovered and yet to be experienced by the world. The First Laptop

A 340K-byte bubble memory laptop computer with die-cast magnesium case and folding electroluminescent graphics display screen Gavilan Computer is considered as the First Laptop. Manny Fernandez had the idea for a well-designed laptop for executives who were starting to use computer. Fernandez, who started Gavilan Computer, promoted his machines as the first "laptop" computers in May 1983. Many historians consider the

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Gavilan as the first fully functional laptop computer. The First Laptop Computer - Osborne 1, the computer considered by most historians to be the first true portable computer. Adam Osborne, an ex-book publisher founded Osborne Computer and produced the Osborne 1 in 1981, a portable computer that weighed 24 pounds. The Osborne 1 came with a five-inch screen, modem port, two 5 1/4 floppy drives, a large collection of bundled software programs, and a battery pack. The short-lived computer company was never successful. History of Laptop

Although more are using the laptop, there are still a few who knows the history, of Laptop Computer. Now the laptop comes with a variety of sizes, thin and that measures 8" with a weight of less than 1kilogram. Computer Idea Before the laptop was introduced, Alan Kay raised the idea of portable computers. This could be observed as the Dynabook concept, developed by Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Centre) in the early 1970's. The development of the concept prototype Alto was also done by Xerox PARC.

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The first portable computer marketed commercially was Osborne 1, developed in 1981. This computer was the first portable one but was required to connect to the power source while using. With a slim CRT screen size of 5" and weighed 23.5 pounds (12 kg), the computer had CP / M Operating System and was introduced with a 4 MHz Z80 CPU, 65 kilobytes main memory, and floppy disk drives. Compaq

In 1983 Compaq released its first product, Compaq Portable, which was quite successful. This product was an IBM clone computer, as IBM was the standard program for all computers at that time. This was much more lighter than Osborne 1and had the same operating system like Osborne 1, the CP / M OS. This model was compatible for MS-DOS programs also.

Epson

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The next Portable computer to be launched was Epson HX-20. The development process of this computer started in the year 1981, but it was launched in the market in the year 1983. Computers that fall into this category of portable computers had the full keyboard with 68 keys, nickel cadmium (NiCD) rechargeable batteries and dot matrix LCD screen with a resolution of 120 x 32 pixels. This screen was capable of displaying four lines with each line containing 20 characters. In addition, this was enabled with 16 kibibyte RAM that could be expanded to 32 kibibyte and was compatible with MS-BASIC. Top sellers IBM

On 3 April 1986, IBM launched the first laptop with a commercial purpose, named the IBM PC Convertible. This laptop was equipped with a 3.5 "floppy disk drive, which is a standard device. The processor used was Intel 80c88, which is a CMOS version of Intel

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8088, which operates at 4.77 MHz. In this there was also 256 KiB of RAM that could be enlarged to 512 KiB. With LCD display and weighing 13 pounds, the computer was equipped with a handle that made it easier to carry. This laptop used a battery as its power source. In 1987, Toshiba launched two products at once, the T1000 and T1200. Although limited to just using the DOS operating system stored in ROM, both the models from Toshiba was very small in size and lightweight. It used lead-acid batteries. NEC

In 1989 two different companies, NEC and Apple Computer, launched one laptop each, namely NEC and Apple Macintosh Ultralit Portable. Nec Ultralit launched in mid 1989. This laptop is probably the first notebook manufactured by NEC. This laptop had a weight of not less than 2 kg.

Apple Computer

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Portable Macintosh launched by Apple Computer had a clear active matrix display and a battery that could last for a long time. Series of laptops of Apple Computer and Apple Power Books were launched in 1991. This is the de facto standard laptop that continues to survive until now. Spring of 1995 was a significant turning point in the history of notebook computers. In August 1995, Microsoft introduced Windows 95. This is the first time Microsoft had full control on the management operating system (operating system). Windows 95 is suitable for application on an Intel Pentium processor and in accordance with the existing ROM on notebooks. Desktop Vs Laptop Desktop More bang for the buck. Cost less. Easier to use. Easy to upgrade. Easy to keep track of. More memory and hard drive space. Stuck in one place. No mobility. Easy Maintenance Less Repair Cost Major Laptop Brands Laptop Everything is smaller and highly advanced. Expensive compared to desktop. Highly updated for any purpose, any locations use. Fastest Up gradation. Easy for someone else to pick up and carry off. Easily Upgradable Memory. Mobile Mobile. Maintenance is difficult. Few Repairs compared to Desktops.

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From humble beginnings in the 1980s, the India laptop market has expanded in leaps and bounds in recent years, and now includes all the major brands. Dell and HP dominate the market, but Sony Vaio is the fastest growing laptop brand in India. Heres an overview of the main laptop brands in India and how they compare to each other. Apple

Acer

Asus

Dell

HCL

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HP

Lenovo

Samsung

Sony

Toshiba

Fujitsu

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Compaq

LG

Zenith

Wipro

iBall

Panasonic

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Benq

Brief of Laptop Brands and Manufacturers Apple

Apple Inc. is an US-based multinational corporation that develops, designs, and manufactures consumer electronics, computer software and commercial servers. The company is globally appreciated for its innovation and unmatched technology that reflects in its wide-ranging consumer electronics products. Apple laptops outclass in performance, quality and design to any other laptops in this line. Its MacBook, a consumer notebook; MacBook Air, an ultrathin, ultraportable and stylish notebook; and MacBook Pro, a professional notebook have been efficiently designed to deliver outstanding performance. Acer

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Acer is a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer. The company entered the Indian market in 1999. Acers laptops are popular because theyre cheaper than many other laptop brands but still offer a lot of features and impressive configurations. In fact, Acer laptops can be seen as offering the same features as HP laptops, but at a lower price. As a result, Acer represents good value for money particularly as far as budget laptops are concerned. Of course, build quality is lacking compared to the more costly brands. Its desirable to take a long warranty. ASUS

Another popular value for money Taiwanese brand in India, ASUS laptops are amongst the cheapest in the market. Theyre also amongst the most innovative. ASUS has been established in India slightly longer than Acer, but only started aggressively expanding in the laptop sector around 2006. Earlier, the company was known in for its motherboards. ASUS laptops are regarded as being much better designed than Acers. ASUS uses cutting edge technology, which is most apparent in its netbook and ultraportable ranges. Gaming laptops are another of the companys strong points. And ASUS laptops are surprisingly

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reliable, definitely a brand worth checking out. Dell

Dell arrived in India in 2007, and in just under four years rose to become the top laptop brand in India, with the largest market share. Dell offers great quality, innovative and highly customizable products that have a lot of visual appeal. You can choose the color and configuration that you want, and do it all online. This online ordering process is convenient and enables Dell to keep prices low, as overhead costs are reduced. On the down side: reliability can be an issue. HCL

HCL is an Indian laptop brand thats been established in the IT market for over three decades. The company focuses on producing portable laptops that are amongst the slimmest in the market. Designs are colorful and attractive, readily customizable, and pricing is aimed at budget conscious crowd. After-sales service can be a concern though.

HP Hewlett Packard

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Well-known American computer company, HP, has been in India for a long time. It arrived in 1989, when the only competition was IBM (later acquired by Lenovo). HP quickly established itself as the market leader by focusing on price and after-sales service. Then, in 2002, it merged with Compaq. This move added to its product range, which individually addresses the needs of home and business users. HP laptops are packed with full of features and are also well regarded for their quality, although sometimes reliability can be an issue. However, they lose out to Dell in regards to customization. And their design is variable some HP laptops are more innovative than others. Lenovo

Chinese-based computer giant, Lenovo, purchased IBMs PC business in late 2004. As IBM was the first computer company in India, this gave Lenovo an excellent entry point into the growing Indian market in which its now placed fourth. The company quickly went about leveraging IBMs ThinkPad brand before adding its own products. These products largely focus on functionality and reliability. Expect powerful configurations and very durable construction. Samsung

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Samsung, although a well-known electrical appliance manufacturer, is a relatively small and new entrant into the laptop market in India. Samsung started selling laptops in late 2008. Recently, the brand has been gaining recognition and growing in popularity. The design of Samsung laptops isnt the most inspiring, but these laptops tend to perform well and are reasonably priced. Sony

Sony is a premium laptop brand that established its presence in India in 1994. The company has many loyal followers who appreciate its unique quality and technology. Its hot selling and stylish VAIO range is a favorite for the fashion conscious. The screens of Sony laptops are particularly well designed.

Toshiba

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Japanese laptop brand Toshiba, one of the oldest players in the global IT market, set up its Indian subsidiary in 2002. The company is known for making laptops that combine maximum functionality and quality. Its products are extensively tested and notably reliable. Toshiba excels in netbooks, ultraportable and gaming laptops. Yet, its mainstream laptops are also of high quality and well designed. Fujitsu

Fujitsu India Private Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu Technology Solutions Holding B.V. It offers a broad range of products and services in India. It is, in fact, the fourth largest IT services vendor in the world. Fujitsu India Private Limited offers Fujitsus state-of-art solutions to the Indian market ranging from Storage Systems, Servers, Laptops/Notebooks, Workstations, Desktops, and Biometrics Products & Scanners.

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Compaq

Compaq, a U.S. based company and once the worlds leading supplier of personal computing systems, was took over by Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2002. The name Compaq stands for Compatibility and Quality. Compaq laptops offer a unique combination of technology, design and affordability in its various brands, like Compaq Presario, Compaq NC, Compaq Evo and Compaq Armada, etc. Compaq laptops, with flexible price range and a broad selection, has become one of the favored choice not only for home and small business users, but also for college students. LG

LG Corporation is the third largest conglomerate of South Korea that deals with electronics, chemicals and telecommunications products, and includes subsidiary companies like LG Electronics, LG Chem, LG Telecom, LG Display, etc. LG Electronics, Inc. is one of the leading technology providers in consumer electronics, mobile communications and home appliances. LG also features a wide range of laptops/notebooks with inspiring design, cutting-edge technology and reasonable price. LG Notebooks make a

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suitable choice for both business people and home users. Zenith

Zenith is one amongst the leading PC companies in India. The company houses Zenith NPD (New Product Development) Center in Mumbai that researches, ideates, develops and manufactures PCs and Laptops for computing, communication and entertainment. Zenith Notebooks, packed with advanced technology and state of the art designs, are known for their efficiency, compatibility and affordable price range. Zenith presents a series of laptops under the following categories: Zenith Home, Zenith Business, Zenith Consumer and Zenith Corporate to befit the tastes of different users. Wipro

Wipro Technologies Limited is an Indian information technology services company that is involved across various industries including consumer care & lighting, eco-energy, infrastructure & engineering and healthcare. Wipro (Western India Palm Refined Oils), headquartered in Bangalore, India, develops notebooks with international standards, design and technology. Wipro laptops are very handy for both home users and corporate users, and are recognized for their technological supremacy and outstanding performance. One can

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chose from a large collection of Wipro Notebooks according to their specific needs. iBall

Best IT World (India) Pvt. Ltd., headquartered in Mumbai, India, offers a large number of computing and digital lifestyle products and accessories under the iBall brand. Owing to its cutting-edge technology and affordability, iBall laptops are greatly liked in India. iBall features very exciting range of notebooks in the categories of Entry Level Laptops, Mainstream Laptops and Ultra Portable Laptops. Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation, a multinational corporation of Japan, deals in a broad range of electronics products, from audiovisual and information/communication equipment to home appliances and components. Panasonic laptops come with a great blend of latest technology and innovative designs and are known for their high-level performance. Panasonic offers an exciting spectrum of notebooks under the categories of fully rugged, Semi-rugged and Business-rugged to cater the specific needs of the diverse users. All these laptops are featured with the incomparable qualities to deliver multitasking work experience and excellent mobility.

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Benq

Benq Corporation, a Taiwan-based multinational company, is one of the leading providers of networked digital lifestyle devices in the world. Benq Group, encompassing 12 companies, specializes in product design, visual display, mobile communication and network convergence technologies. Benq Notebooks are a good choice as they provide the latest technology with attractive look at affordable prices. Benq offers a great selection of laptops in various series, 1.2 NEED FOR THE STUDY The market for laptop in India is growing rapidly and the popularity was driven by the product attributes. Though the product was introduced in the Indian market in mid1990s, the acceptance was rather limited as it was costly and quite heavy, and it therefore took time for the market to develop. However, by 2008, it had be- come a very high-selling product with reasonably wide- spread acceptance among the executives and students. The most appealing attributes for the consumers were portability, Internet connectivity at lower costs, many inbuilt features that were not available in standard desk- tops, and most importantly, a substantial reduction in the price difference between desktops and laptops. The laptop average prices fell from 55,000 INR in 2007 to 40,000 INR in 2008, while the desktop prices only came down from INR 22,000 to 20,000. Also, the PC required some additional costs like a computer table, uninterrupted power supply units, etc., which cost

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additional INR 6,000, which made laptops a better value proposition compared to desktops to a large majority of Indian population. This trend of at least an annual drop of 10 per cent in laptop market was expected to last till 2012, which was likely to fuel the laptop sales. In this scenario, a study on the factors leading to the taste and preferences of the customers, and the factors, which satisfy them, stands highly relevant. 1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM In this epoch of exceedingly sophisticated technology, life has become unthinkable without the application of it. As an outcome of this Desktop computers have given the way to comfortable, handy and mobile Laptops. Laptop in its any advanced form is gaining recognition and is preferred much in the Market now a days. In this context, the specific purpose of this study is to find out the level of customer awareness about different brands of Laptops available in the Market and the level of satisfaction of various users. 1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1. 2. To analyze the awareness of the Respondents towards Branded Laptop. To analyze the increase in the tendency of using Laptops among various age groups. 3. 4. 5. To know the purpose for which the Laptop is used. To identify the factors which influences the purchase of Laptop. To measure the level of satisfaction attained as the respondents consider several factors.

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1.5 Methodology

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Methodology is generally a guideline system for solving a problem, with specific components such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools. It can be defined also as follows: "The analysis of the principles of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline". "The systematic study of methods that are, can be, or have been applied within a discipline". "The study or description of methods". A methodology can be considered to include multiple methods, each as applied to various facets of the whole scope of the methodology. The Methodology adopted for this Research is Empirical study using Questionnaire as a tool. Population of the Study A population can be defined as including all people or items with the characteristic one wish to understand. Because there is very rarely enough time or money to gather information from everyone or everything in a population, the goal becomes finding a representative sample or subset of that population. The Population drawn for this study is strictly from Guntur Town.

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Sampling Technique Sampling may be defined as the selection of some part of an aggregate or totality on the basis of which a judgement or inference about the aggregate or totality is made. In other words, it is the process of obtaining information about an entire population by examining only a part of it. Simple Random Sampling In this method of sampling, each unit of the population has the equal probability of being selected as a unit of the sample given by the following formula The Probability of selection of each unit = 1/N This means that the first unit of the sample will be selected from the population with a probability of 1/N. Each of the remaining units required for the sample is selected in the same way using the same probability of selection. Sample Size The Sample Size of this study is 400.

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Sample Design Convenience Sampling: This is a non-probability sampling method in which the interviewers will decide the choice of sample units based on their convenience. The sampling units for this type of sampling are selected from a telephone directory, newspaper subscription list, departmental stores etc. The Sample Design adopted for this study is Convenience Sampling. Data Source: The reliability of managerial decisions depends on the quality of data. The quality of data can be expressed in terms of its representative feature of the reality, which can be ensured by the usage of a fitting data collection method. Data can be classified into two. Primary Data and Secondary Data

Primary Data: The data, which is collected from the field under the control and supervision of an investigator, is known as Primary Data. This type of data is generally afresh and collected for the first time. Secondary Data: If data is collected from journals, magazines, government publications, annual reports of companies etc, then such data is called Secondary Data. In each of these sources of data, the process of data collection has already been done by the respective organization/agency.

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For this study, Primary Data is collected by means of a Structured Questionnaire. Secondary Data is collected from Internet, Journals, Magazines, and News Paper. Statistical Tools Employed Statistical Tools employed for the Analysis are Simple Percentage Analysis Percentage analysis is the method to represent raw streams of data as a percentage for better understanding of collected data. ANOVA In statistics, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is a collection of statistical models, and their associated procedures, in which the observed variance in a particular variable is partitioned into components attributable to different sources of variation. In its simplest form, ANOVA provides a statistical test of whether or not the means of several groups are all equal, and therefore generalizes t-test to more than two groups. Doing multiple twosample t-tests would result in an increased chance of committing a type I error. For this reason, ANOVAs are useful in comparing two, three, or more means. Chi square Test A chi-squared test, also referred to as chi-square test or 2 test, is a statistical hypothesis test in which the sampling distribution of the test statistic is a chi-squared distribution when the null hypothesis is true, or any in which this is asymptotically true,

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meaning that the sampling distribution if the null hypothesis is true can be made to approximate a chi-squared distribution as closely as desired by making the sample size large enough. Friedman Ranking Test The Friedman test is a non-parametric statistical test developed by the U.S. economist Milton Friedman. Similar to the parametric repeated measures ANOVA; it is used to detect differences in treatments across multiple test attempts. The procedure involves ranking each row or block together, then considering the values of ranks by columns. Applicable to complete block designs, it is thus a special case of the Durbin test. All Statistical tests were carried out with SPSS software. 1.6 TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS Hypothesis is often considered as a principal instrument in Research. Its main function is to suggest new experiments and observations. In a Laymans point of view, Hypothesis simply means a mere assumption or some supposition to be proved or disproved. But for a Researcher, Hypothesis is a formal Question that he intends to resolve. Thus a Hypothesis may be defined as a proposition or a set of proposition set forth as an explanation for the occurrence of some specified group of phenomena either asserted merely as a provisional conjecture to guide some investigation or accepted as highly probable in the light of established facts. Quite often Research Hypothesis is a predictive statement, capable of being tested by scientific methods, that relates an independent variable to some dependent variable.

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 Null Hypothesis: The null hypothesis is the hypothesis that states that there is no relation between the phenomena whose relation is under investigation, or at least not of the form given by the alternative hypothesis. Alternative Hypothesis: The alternative hypothesis, as the name suggests, is the alternative to the null hypothesis: it states that there is some kind of relation. The alternative hypothesis may take several forms, depending on the nature of the hypothesized relation; in particular, it can be two-sided (for example: there is some effect, in a yet unknown direction) or one-sided (the direction of the hypothesized relation, positive or negative, is fixed in advance). Conventional significance levels for testing the hypotheses are .10, .05, and .01. Whether the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted, all must be determined in advance, before the observations are collected or inspected. If these criteria are determined later, when the data to be tested is already known, the test is invalid. 1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY IT sector is growing at a highest rate ever. This sector is striving to tap almost each potential customer to buy and use its products. Having laptop has become the need of every person. Now a days everybody wants to enjoy these technically advanced gadgets. With liberalization, privatization and globalization after 1991, many IT companies operate in India and thus the market is quite competent with multi brands offering available in the market so as to work on it and capture the market. The main objective of the study is to find out the competitive edge of one company over other, which company is having the

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highest market share, what are the different services offered by them, the level of customer satisfaction and attitude towards the brands and what are the expectations of the customers from these brands in the days to come. 1.8 PERIOD OF THE STUDY The study extended over a period of one year from August 2011 to August 2012. 1.9 o LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The Sample Units are confined to Guntur City only and hence the results cannot be generalized. o The number of Brands selected for study is restricted to Five due to time constraints. o Results of the study may vary from time to time. o o o Preferences of the consumers are subject to change with the utility of the Product. The number of respondents of this study is restricted to 400 only. The same results cannot be expected in other cities as the taste and preferences of the respondents may change. o The factors ranked which influences the Laptop may vary from time to time.

1.8.1

CHAPTER SCHEME Chapter 1: Deals with the introduction and Design of the Study.

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Chapter 2: Gives the Review of Literature. Chapter 3: Provides the profile of the Branded Laptop and its features. Chapter 4: Provides the profile of the Geographical Area selected for the study. Chapter 5: Deals with the Analysis and Interpretation of the data. Chapter 6: Deals with the Findings, Suggestions and Conclusion.

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CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A literature review is a specific type of research paper that focuses on published literature on a given topic. It is often the first step in doing original research, either scientific or otherwise. It is more than a mere summary of the literature, however, as it presents analysis, patterns, and critiques of individual sources, groups of sources, and the body of literature as a whole. Not to be confused with a book review, a literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources (e.g. dissertations, conference proceedings) relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work. The purpose is to offer an overview of significant literature published on a topic that critically analyzes a segment of a published body of knowledge through summary, classification, and comparison of prior research studies, reviews of literature, and theoretical articles. Someone reading a literature review should gain an understanding of trends, issues, unresolved questions, controversies, and the importance of the scholarly knowledge related to a specific question (topic). The era of highly differentiated laptops in the consumer industry is over. No longer does one vendor dominate the market, enjoying their product being seen as exceedingly superior to its competition. What once served to distinguish a laptop provider has now been equalized across the field; every vendor offers the same microprocessors, the same RAM capacity, the same graphics cards, the same networking and wireless functionality. The commoditization of the market has diminished a vendor's ability to strongly differentiate themselves among consumers.

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Consumers in the United States viewed the Personal Computer as a valuable tool to enhance productivity and improve the entertainment experience. While the form factor of choice in households today remains the desktop, maintaining more than 50% of the ownership, laptop/mobile notebooks are improving their position, up to 17%. James E. Stafford (1966)1 in his study group influences on Consumer Brand Preferences utilized a systematic random sample of ten-house wifes from one census tract in Austin, Texas. Each housewife was asked to nominate four people with whom she would like to do shopping. The respondents were asked to choose from four unknown brands, which were identical expect for the label. It was found that the respondents were not particular about the brand, which they selected. Rincy V Mather (2005)2 in a study on Customer Satisfaction to the Products and Services mentioned Customer Satisfaction as a function of perceived performance and expectation. Feeling of satisfaction arises when customers compare their perceptions of the performance of a product or service to their desires and expectations. People often do not have well-defined preferences; instead, they may construct them on the spot when needed, such as when they must make a choice. Kenneth E Runyon (1950)3 hold the view that in terms of individuals conscious feelings and attitude about themselves, as persons self concept gradually emerges through interaction with other people and self concept is subject to change. Self concept again
1 2 3
1

James E. Stafford (1966), Study on Consumer Brand Preferences and learning Brand

Loyalty. Rincy V. Mather (2005), A study on customer satisfaction to the Products and the Services, Indian Journal on Marketing, October 2005. Kenneth and Runyon David W Steward (1950), Consumer Behavior and the practice of Marketing, London Merrill Publishing Co, 1987.

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depends upon clarity of experience provided by new perception the way the revised concept fit into the existing self organization and the relation of revised concepts to individual needs. The basic purpose of all human activity is protection, maintenance and enhancement not of the self but of the self-concept or symbolic self and here lies the importance of self-concept for marketing. Parasuraman (1997)4 In his study, Reflections on Gaining Competitive Advantage through Customer Value, claims that in a highly competitive market, the shortest route to differentiation is through the development of brands and active promotion to both intermediaries and final consumers. Todays customers do not just buy core quality products or services; they also buy a variety of added value or benefits. This forces the service providers to adopt a market orientation approach that identifies consumer needs and designs new products and redesigns current ones. Storbacka et al., (1994)5 states that satisfied customers might look for other providers because they believe they might receive better service elsewhere. However, keeping customers is also dependent on a number of other factors. These include a wider range of product choices, greater convenience, better prices, and enhanced income. Although customer satisfaction and quality appear to be important for all firms, satisfaction is more important for loyalty in industries such as banks, insurance, mail order, and automobiles.

4 5

Parasuraman, A. (1997). Reflections on Gaining Competitive Advantage through Customer Value. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 25(2), pp. 154-161. Storbacka, K., Strandvik, R and Gronroos, C. (1994). Managing Customer Relationship for Profit: The Dynamics of Relationship Quality. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 5(5), pp. 21-38.

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Curasi and Kennedy (2002)6 have shown that customer satisfaction does not predict the continuation of the relationship. High switching costs are an important factor binding the customer to the service organisation. Even with relatively low levels of satisfaction, the customer continues to patronize the service provider because repurchasing is easier and more cost effective than searching for a new provider or sampling the services of an unknown provider Jones and Farquhar (2003)7 stated that one aspect of loyalty is the impact of cross- selling, which forms a critical element in increasing revenue. Profitability could, as a consequence, be threatened not only by loss of market share but also by diminished opportunities for cross selling. Kotler (2000)8 defined the traditional definition of a brand as: the name, associated with one or more items in the product line, that is used to identify the source of character of the item(s) The American Marketing Association (AMA) definition of a brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors. Technically speaking, then, whenever a marketer creates a new name, logo, or symbol for a new product, he or she has created a brand Kapferer (1997)9 mentions that before the 1980s there was a different approach
6

7 8 9

Curasi, C. F and Kennedy, K. N. (2002). From Prisoners to Apostles: A Typology of Repeat Buyers and Loyal Customers in Service Businesses. The Journal of Service Marketing, 16(4), pp. 322-342. Jones, H., and Farquhar, J. D. (2003). Contact Management and Customer Loyalty. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 8(1), August, p. 71. Kotler, Philip (2003), Marketing Management. The Millennium Edition, Upper Saddle River, Prentice Hall, p. 396, 404) Kapferer, Jean Noel (1997), Strategic Brand Management, Great Britain, Kogan Page, (p. 23).

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towards brands. Companies wished to buy a producer of chocolate or pasta: after 1980, they wanted to buy KitKat or Buitoni. This distinction is very important; in the first case firms wish to buy production capacity and in the second they want to buy a place in the mind of the consumer. In other words, the shift in focus towards brands began when it was understood that they were something more than mere identifiers. Keller (2003)10 defines Brand awareness as the customers ability to recall and recognize the brand as reflected by their ability to identify the brand under different conditions and to link the brand name, logo, symbol, and so forth to certain associations in memory. Engel, Kollat & Blackwell, (1968)11 states, "A given response is reinforced either positively or negatively to the extent that it is followed by a reward. Reward, in turn, leads to an evaluation that the purchase was satisfactory and hence it can exert an effect on brand beliefs and attitudes. The probability of engaging in a similar buying act will be increased if there are positive consequences in the act of purchase and use and vice versa". Attitude is .a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object. Schiffman and Kanuk, (1997)12 states that Consumer background characteristics are innately stable characteristics of a consumers life based on the consumers cultural background, values and demographic, psychological and social attitudes. There are no

10 11 12

Keller, K.L. (2003) Strategic Brand Management. 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, p.76. Engel, J., D. Kollat & R. Blackwell (1968). Consumer behavior. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, p. 532. Schiffman, L.G. and Kanuk, L.L. (1997), Consumer Behavior, 8th ed., Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, p. 167.

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gender differences when comparing attitudes of computer owners. The decision to own a computer was viewed as self-socialization. The relationships between the amount of computer use and attitudes about the computer were not especially strong. Sacks, Bellisimo, & Mergendoller (Winter, 1993-94)13 concluded that male attitudes about computers were stable across their experiment and that change would not be expected because the males have been socialized by a society that encourages males to be proficient in all technological issues. Females, on the other hand, have not been so encouraged; but when they are provided with computer instruction and experience, their attitudes and behaviors are not different from males. According to Zhou and Wong (2008)14, some consumers focus heavily on brands, making those brands become more important than product quality per se in purchasing situations. Customer involvement is the personal relevance of a specific object, so it includes personal thoughts, feelings, and behavioral responses to a brands product. Thus, the more deeply customers are involved with a specific product, the more they show an interest in that product. Therefore, customer involvement should help explain consumer behavior. According to Silvernail and Lane (2004)15, educators use portable computers in a variety of ways, and most frequently in developing instructional materials; conducting
13

14

15

Sacks, C., Bellisimo, Y., & Mergendoller, J. (Winter 1993-94). Attitudes toward computers and computer use: The issue of gender. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 26(2), 256- 269. Zhou, L., & Wong, A. (2008). Exploring the influence of product conspicuousness and social compliance on purchasing motives of young Chinese consumers for foreign brands. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 7(6), 470-483. Silvernail, D. L., & Lane, D. M. M. (2004). The impact of Maines one-to-one laptop program on middle school teachers and student: Phase one summary evidence, Research report 1. Maine Education Policy Research Institute University of Southern Maine Office.

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study, which are related to instruction; and communicating with colleagues. They found that the teachers use the laptop in a variety of ways to support their instruction and thus, the laptop use among the teachers has increased due to the implementation of the laptop initiative. According to Brown, Manogue and Rohlin (2002)16, current description of attitude is a combination of beliefs, thoughts and feelings that influence an individual to respond in a positive or negative way to objects, people, processes or institutions. Attitude in this study refers to the mixture of belief, thoughts and feeling of teachers to use laptop in a favorable or unfavorable way. According to Dexter, Anderson and Ronnkvist (2002)17, technology support is the access to personnel guidance and help, and resources to the extent educators have more opportunities (face fewer obstacles) to practice using instructional technology. Technology competence comprises not only technology knowledge but also the skills and experience essential to put them into use. Educators have to be competent in using laptop technology in order to play an effective role as facilitators.

Liaw (2002)18 in his survey involving 260 respondents indicated that the males have more positive perceptions toward computer and Web technologies than do females.
16 17

18

Brown, G., Manogue, M., & Rohlin, M. (2002). Assessing attitudes in dental education: Is it worthwhile? British Dental Journal, 193:703-707. Dexter, S. L., Anderson, R. E., & Ronnkvist, A. M. (2002). Quality technology support: What is it? Who is it? And what differences does it make?. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 26(3), 265-285. Liaw, S. (2002). An Internet survey for perceptions of computers and the World Wide Web: Relationship, prediction, and difference. Computers in Human Behavior, 18 (1), 17-35.

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Attitude is an individual's degree to respond in a favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a psychological object. Urwin (2007)19 in a recent study indicated that educators do not have enough time to learn from experience and have difficulty keeping up to date. This results in educators feeling reluctant to invest time and effort with the latest technologies. This results in educators lacking in updated technologies and find them incompetent certain times. Flowers and Algozzine (2000)20 defined computer competence to include basic computer operation to understanding of social, legal and ethical issues. Laptop competence, therefore, can be observed in terms of the users beliefs concerning their knowledge, basic skill, and capability of performing essential functions using the laptop. According to Noraini Idris et al. (2007)21, individuals with positive attitudes will have positive feelings about people and situations; have a sense of purpose, excitement, and passion; approach problems in a creative manner; have a resourceful, positive, and enthusiastic air about them; make the best out of every situation; realize that attitude is a choice; feel that they have control of their thoughts; and feel that they are making a contribution through their work. Geisler and Hoang (1992)22 identify five steps in the decision process to purchase
19 20

21

22

Urwin, A. (2007). The Professionalism of the Higher Education Teacher: Whats ICT got to do with it? Teaching in Higher Education, 12(3), 295-308. Flowers, C. P., & Algozzine, R. F. (2000). Development and validation of scores on the basic technology competencies for educators inventory. Educational and Psychological Measurement, Vol. 60 No. 3, 411-418. Noraini Idris, Loh, S. C., Norjoharuddeen Mohd. Nor, Ahmad Zabidi Abdul Razak, & Rahimi Md. Saad. (2007). The professional preparation of Malaysian teachers in the implementation of teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science in English. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 3(2), 101-110. Geisler, E. and Hoang, W. (1992). Purchasing Information Technologies: Behavior

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IT: 1. Establish or articulate the need for IT. 2. Establish or determine which unit(s) will receive the new or modified IT. 3. Select the technology. 4. Select the suppliers. 5. Authorize the purchase and sign the authorization to commit the necessary funds. The authors conclude that services companies follow a relatively logical and analyzable decision process. According to CRN (2006)23 in June 2005, notebook sales accounted for $216.1 million, or $1,442.66 per notebook whereas desktops accounted for $113.9 million, or $762.98 per unit. The average notebook price fell 11.8 percent from $1,635.07 in the yearago month and in the same period, desktop prices fell 5 percent from $803.38 (CRN, 2006). In addition, new product launches to the market, acquisitions and mergers in the sector, rapid developments in the nano-technology, integrated wireless networking, and decreased prices make it extremely vital for the companies to understand the factors underlying consumers laptop purchase decisions. According to Hong and Lerch (2002)24, people evaluate various objective features when buying an IT product, and because of imperfect information and simplifications according to the decision rules people often abstract these various features into few perceptual dimensions such as usefulness and price. The other factors that affect a consumers electronic shopping purchase decision: product understanding, shopping experience, customer service, and consumer risk.

23 24

Patterns in Service Companies. International Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management. 28 (3), 38-42. CRN (2006). Survey: Notebooks Surpass Desktop Sales For First Time. Available at: http://www.crn.com/showArticle.jhtml?ArticleID=169400139 Hong, Se-Joon, Lerch, F.Javier (2002). A Laboratory Study of Consumers Preferences and Purchasing Behavior with Regards to Software Components. ACM SIGMIS, 33 (3), 23-37.

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CHAPTER 3 PROFILE OF THE LAPTOPS SELECTED FOR THE STUDY

1.

Dell

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History of Dell Dell traces its origins to 1984, when Michael Dell created PCs Limited while a student at the University of Texas at Austin. The dorm-room head quartered company sold IBM PC-compatible computers built from stock components. Dell dropped out of school in order to focus full-time on his fledgling business, after getting about $300,000 in expansion-capital from his family. In 1985, the company produced the first computer of its own design, the "Turbo PC", which sold for US$795. PCs Limited vertised its systems in national computer magazines for sale directly to consumers and custom assembled each ordered unit according to a selection of options. The company grossed more than $73 million in its first year of operation. The company changed its name to "Dell Computer Corporation" in 1988 and began expanding globally. In June 1988, Dell's market capitalization grew by $30 million to $80 million from its June 22 initial public offering of 3.5 million shares at $8.50 a share. In

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1992, Fortune magazine included Dell Computer Corporation in its list of the world's 500 largest companies, making Michael Dell the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company ever Dell, Inc. is an American multinational computer technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest technological corporations in the world, employing more than 103,300 people worldwide. Dell is listed at number 41 in the Fortune 500 list. It is the third largest PC maker in the world after HP and Lenovo. Dell has grown by both increasing its customer base and through acquisitions since its inception, notable mergers and acquisitions including Alienware (2006) and Perot Systems (2009). As of 2009, the company sold personal computers, servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, and computer peripherals. Dell also sells HDTVs, cameras, printers, MP3 players and other electronics built by other manufacturers. The company is well known for its innovations in supply chain management and electronic commerce. Fortune Magazine listed Dell as the sixth largest company in Texas by total revenue. It is the second largest non-oil company in Texas behind AT&T and the largest company in the Austin, Texas area.

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Dell in India Incorporated as Dell Computer India Private Ltd. in Bangalore in

1996, Dell has been among the fastest growing technology companies in India and continues to be among the top three today. Dell established an R&D centre in Bangalore in 2004. This centre is the software and solutions core competency centre for Dell. The centre plays a critical role in innovating for the customers globally across a wide range of IT solutions, with dedicated labs for state-of-the-art hardware, software and enterprise solutions. The centre houses subject matter experts for various enterprise solutions offered by Dell, such as virtualization, high-performance computing (HPC), database and system management solutions. Customers also benefit from the proof-of-concept work that the India team does to ensure that the solutions deliver what customers need in their real world IT environments. Quick Facts Customers throughout India in large enterprises, small and medium businesses, at home and in government organizations choose Dell to be their trusted technology solutions partner. Dell supports customers through sales and marketing, customer contact centers, research and development (R&D), IT, manufacturing and services offices in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Delhi, Pune, Coimbatore, Noida and Chennai. Dells first India-based contact centers opened in Bangalore and Hyderabad in 2003; Chandigarh was developed in 2005 and Gurgaon contact centre was opened in 2006.

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The Dell manufacturing (ICC) facility was inaugurated in Sriperumputhur, near Chennai, in Tamil Nadu in 2007.

Dell India accounts for the company's largest employee base outside the United States.

In 2010, Dell India becomes the #1 PC brand in India with a market share of more than 15 percent, according to the IDC Q2CY10 Pulse Tracker.

Manufacturing in India Continuing the commitment to India, Dell invested USD $30 million in December 2006 to build the manufacturing facility at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu the third such facility in the Asia-Pacific/Japan region. This facility provides customers with better product delivery times and overall value due to an enhanced value chain that includes desktops, laptops and servers. First Color Notebook by Dell

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Dell launched its range of Dell laptops in 1989 with the 316LT. In 1991, the first Dell laptop with a color screen was announced and the 325NC ran at 25MHZ and cost just under $4,500. Since then, Dell have been refining and redesigning their Dell laptops.

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Having received over 400 product awards in 2007, Dell laptops are some of the best in the market and there are four major ranges of Dell laptops available. The current range of Dell laptop, the Dell Inspiron, is one of the most popular Dell laptops available in the market. The Inspiron Mini 9 Dell laptop is one of the worlds smallest notebooks and the most advanced mini Dell laptop on offer today. Features of Dell Laptop Light Weight Polished brushed finishes Full HD display Optimized Touch Pad Backlit chicklet-style spill-resistant keyboard. Upgradable Memory Fine hard disk storage space. Inbuilt webcam. Dual-array digital microphones Stereo speakers. Wi-Fi Enabled. Bluetooth. Media Card Reader.

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Acer

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History of Acer In 1976, Stan Shih, his wife Carolyn Yeh, and a group of five others founded Acer Inc. A multinational information technology and electronics corporation headquartered in Xizhi, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It began with eleven employees and US$25,000 in capital. Initially, it was primarily a distributor of electronic parts and a consultant in the use of microprocessor technologies. It produced the Micro-Professor MPF-I training kit, then two Apple II clones, the Microprocessor II and III before joining the emerging IBM PC compatible market, and becoming a significant PC manufacturer. The company was renamed Acer in 1987. Acer's products include desktop and laptop PCs, tablet computers, servers, storage devices, displays, smart phones and peripherals. It also provides e-business services to businesses, governments and consumers. Acer is the fourth largest PC maker in the world. Acer has a portable product line extension, the TravelMate series, the Aspire series and the cutting edge Ferrari series in line. Acer Ferrari laptops have the high persistent quality because of which they have managed to carve out a niche for them in the market. It

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is already popular in Asian and European markets, now it hopes to garner attention in the profitable U.S market. Acer is ranked as first in 13 countries - Italy, Spain, Austria, Holland, Switzerland, The Czech Republic, Russia, Portugal, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Hungary and The Slovakian Republic. Acer provides a wide range of portables with advanced features like flexibility, power, speed, full coverage, vision, and style to name a few. The products include Travel Mate notebook computers, convertible Tablet PCs with Intel Pentium processors, wide-screen Aspire multimedia notebooks and Ferrari notebooks notable for a bright red chassis. Acer also markets a full range of Veriton business desktops, AcerPower and Aspire value desktops, Altos servers for the enterprise, and both LCD and CRT displays.

Acer Inc. Logo History

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1987 - 2001

Qic T e a da u k im n dcmr so eo pes r ae eddt s e h p t r . r n ee o e t is icu e

2001 - 2011

Q ic T e a da u k im n dcmr s o eo pes r ae eddt se h p t r . r n ee o e t is icu e

2011 - Present

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Operations In India Acer's subsidiary in India Acer India (Pvt) Limited, was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Acer Computer International, Ltd. in 1999. It is a notable vendor in key segments such as education, desktop computers and low profile notebooks for education. The headquarters is in Bangalore, India. It has however been extensively criticized for poor after sales service and multiple other issues that have plagued its customers. Products Chromebook Consumer Desktops Business Desktop Consumer Notebooks Business Notebooks Tablet Netbook Nettop Milestones 1976-1986: Commercialize microprocessor technology Acer's founder, Stan Shih, has always been passionate about sharing knowledge as a way of contributing to society. Acer actively engaged in teaching others about

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microprocessor technology, and promoting computer usage in everyday life. At this time, the company established its manufacturing operations, and played a significant role to popularizing the use of computers in Taiwan. 1987-2000: Create a brand name and globalize In 1987, Multitech formally became known as Acer, marking the start of Acer's efforts toward creating a strong brand name. During this second ten-year stage of development, Acer grew extensively and expanded its strategic and geographic footprint to become one of the world's top ten PC vendors. Priority was placed on delivering the freshest, most affordable technology to benefit consumers worldwide. 2001-2007: Transform from manufacturing to services Acer evolved from a manufacturing powerhouse to a globally recognized computer brand, providing world-class IT products and services. Acer's unique Channel Business Model enabled the company to achieve sustainable worldwide growth. The model offers flexibility to adapt to changing global IT market trends, involves collaborating with the industry's top-tier partners and suppliers, while minimizing operating expense and enhancing profitability. In 2007, Acer was ranked as the world's No. 3 PC vendors. 2008-beyond: Enhance worldwide presence with a new multi-brand strategy With the successful completion of the mergers of Gateway and Packard Bell, Acer seeks to further strengthen its global footprint with a new multi-brand strategy and solid partnerships. As the worlds No. 2 PC manufacturing company, Acer now sets its sight on

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becoming the No. 1 notebook maker as well as leader in the mobile device market. Furthermore, Acer is taking bold strides to expand its presence in China to enhance competitiveness on a worldwide scale. Features of Acer Laptops Quality and Stylish Laptops Advantageous Features Affordable Price Powerful laptop Bright LED Display Minimum Booting Time Slim Laptops Less Weight Upgradable Memory Advanced Battery Back Up Hewlett Packard [HP]

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Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States that provides

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products, technologies, software, solutions and services to consumers, small and mediumsized businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health and education sectors. William (Bill) Redington Hewlett and Dave Packard set up the company in a onecar garage in Palo Alto. HP is the world's leading PC manufacturer. It specializes in developing and manufacturing computing, data storage, and networking hardware, designing software and delivering services. Major product lines include personal computing devices, enterprise, and industry standard servers, related storage devices, networking products, software and a diverse range of printers, and other imaging products. HP markets its products to households, small- to medium-sized businesses and enterprises directly as well as via online distribution, consumer-electronics and office-supply retailers, software partners and major technology vendors. HP also has strong services and consulting business around its products and partner products. Founding Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard graduated with degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1935. The company originated in a garage in nearby Palo Alto during a fellowship they had with a past professor, Frederick Terman at Stanford during the Great Depression. Terman was considered a mentor to them in forming Hewlett-Packard. In 1939, Packard and Hewlett established Hewlett-Packard (HP) in Packard's garage with an initial capital investment of US$538. Hewlett and Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett. Packard won the coin toss but named their manufacturing enterprise the "Hewlett-Packard

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Company". HP was incorporated on August 18, 1947, and went public on November 6, 1957. Early years The company was originally rather unfocused, working on a wide range of electronic products for industry and even agriculture. Eventually they elected to focus on high-quality electronic test and measurement equipment. From the 1940s until well into the 1990s the company concentrated on making electronic test equipment: signal generators, voltmeters, oscilloscopes, frequency counters, thermometers, time standards, wave analyzers, and many other instruments. A distinguishing feature was pushing the limits of measurement range and accuracy; many HP instruments were more sensitive, accurate, and precise than other comparable equipment. Following the pattern set by the company's first product, the 200A, test instruments were labeled with three to five digits followed by the letter "A". Improved versions went to suffixes "B" through "E". HP Fast Facts Hewlett-Packard Company. Headquarters: Palo Alto, California. HP serves more than 1 billion customers in more than 170 countries on six continents.

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HP has approximately 324,600 employees worldwide. HP's 2011 Fortune 500 ranking: No. 11 HP's revenue for the four fiscal quarters ended Oct. 31, 2011: $127.2 billion. HP is a technology company that operates in more than 170 countries around the

world. HP explores how technology and services can help people and companies address their problems and challenges, and realize their possibilities, aspirations and dreams. It applies new thinking and ideas to create more simple, valuable and trusted experiences with technology, continuously improving the way customers live and work. No other company offers as complete a technology product portfolio as HP. HP provides infrastructure and business offerings that span from handheld devices to some of the world's most powerful supercomputer installations. HP offers consumers a wide range of products and services from digital photography to digital entertainment and from computing to home printing. This comprehensive portfolio helps HP match the right products, services and solutions to customers' specific needs. Technology leadership HP's three business groups drive industry leadership in core technology areas: The Personal Systems Group: business and consumer PCs, mobile computing devices and workstations. The Imaging and Printing Group: inkjet, LaserJet and commercial printing, printing supplies. Enterprise Business: business products including storage and servers, enterprise

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services, software and networking. Growth HP is focused on three technology shifts that have the power to transform customers' lives and businesses. Information explosion Digital transformation Environmental sustainability Manufacturing in India HP, of Palo Alto, has had a facility in Bangalore in south India since 1999, from which it produces about 1 million computers each year. HP is setting up a second computer manufacturing facility in India to help it meet surging demand in the country. The facility, in Pantnagar in the northeastern state of Uttaranchal, will be able to churn out 300,000 computers per month when it starts operations. Features of HP Laptops Choice of 15.6-inch or 14.0-inch Widescreen Laptops. Stylish and Affordable Essential security and Business Features

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High-definition Displays and Audio HP offers a broad selection of solutions and accessories. Enhanced business features Extended battery life options Ability to dock Bright LED Display Expandable Memory

Lenovo

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History of Lenovo On November 1, 1984, Lenovo was established with 200,000 RMB by eleven people, named the "Chinese Academy of the Sciences Institute of Computing Technology," new technology development company. In 1985, the company launched the first Chinesemade motherboard with Lenovo Technology. The brand name, Lenovo, was born from this. On 23 June 1988, Lenovo was incorporated in Hong Kong. New Technology Development Company and Chinese technology Transfer Company co-founded Lenovo of Hong Kong. Lenovo Group used Legend as its English name. The "Lenovo" name was used for the first time.

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When Legend launched its own branded personal computer in 1990, it already had a strong distribution network in place. With that distribution network and prices 30% below those of foreign companies such as Hewlett Packard, Legend took the lead in China's computer market late 1996 and has held it ever since. Legend has been able to accomplish this by under pricing foreign competitors while providing quality and support unavailable from local competitors. Lenovo Group Limited is a Chinese multinational personal technology company that develops, manufactures and markets desktop and notebook computers, workstations, servers, storage drives, IT management software, and other related products and services. Lenovo was incorporated in Hong Kong in 1988 under its previous name, Legend. Lenovo's principal operations are located in Morrisville, North Carolina, Beijing, China and Singapore. Lenovo is the world's second largest PC maker and markets the ThinkPad line of notebook PCs and ThinkCentre line of desktops. These brands became part of Lenovo's offerings after its 2005 acquisition of IBM's personal computer business. Lenovo also sells the IdeaPad line of notebook computers. Lenovo markets its products directly to consumers, small to medium size businesses, and large enterprises, as well as through online sales, company-owned stores, chain retailers, and major technology distributors and vendors.

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Leadership Liu Chuanzhi Liu Chuanzhi is the founder of Lenovo and remains the paramount leader of the firm. Liu founded Lenovo in 1984, with a group of ten other engineers in Beijing with 200,000 yuan. The listed holding company was incorporated in 1988 in Hong Kong Yang Yuanqing Yang Yuanqing is the chief executive officer of Lenovo. Yang was the chairman of Lenovo's board from 2004 to 2008. Before the acquisition of IBM's PC division by Lenovo in 2004, he was the President and CEO of the company. One of his major achievements was making Lenovo the best-selling PC brand in China since 1997. In 2001, Business Week named him as one of the rising stars in Asia. In February 2009 the CEO Bill Amelio was replaced by Yang. Gianfranco Lanci In April 2012 Lenovo hired former Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci as head of its European unit. Lenovo said the hiring of Lanci was designed to help achieve its goal of becoming a top three PC maker in Europe within the year. Headquarters and facilities Lenovo's principal facilities are in Beijing, Morrisville, North Carolina and Singapore, with research centers in those locations, as well as Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xiamen, and Chengdu in China, and Yamato in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

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Manufacturing Lenovo operates factories in Chengdu and Hefei in China, Japan, and in December 2011 started production in Argentina. Lenovo focuses on vertical integration in order to avoid excessive reliance on original equipment manufacturers and keep costs down. Lenovo in India Lenovo creates and builds exceptionally engineered personal technology, but it is much more than a tech company. Lenovo is defining a new way of doing things as a next generation global company. That means it is years ahead of the game in terms of understanding what it will take to win 5, 10 years from now. Achieving optimal balance in all that is done is Lenovos operating philosophy. This mindset encompasses every aspect of Lenovos business, from balancing leadership with consensus building, to valuing both short- and long-term thinking. As a result, it has created a balanced business model and strategy that take maximum advantage of profit and investment across both core and new businesses. The result is balanced performance and market share growth across all regions, customer segments, products and business models. The mission of Lenovo is to become one of the worlds great personal technology companies. They aspire to achieve this objective by leading in three key areas: Personal Computers: Lead in PCs and be respected for their product innovation and quality. Convergence: Lead the industry with an ecosystem of devices, services, applications

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and content for people to seamlessly connect to people and web content. Culture: Become recognized as one of the best, most trusted and most well respected companies to work for and do business with. The Heritage Lenovo came about as the result of the merger of two of the most storied companies in technology and business: Legend Holdings in China and IBMs Personal Computing Division in the United States. The merger was heralded as a watershed event in global business with the potential for integrating two disparate cultures, languages, processes and markets. Two Roads to Creating a PC Powerhouse In 1981, IBM launched its Personal Computing Division, which literally invented personal computing with such innovations as the first laptop computer, the precursor to the ThinkPad notebook, synonymous with innovation and quality. In 1984, Legend Holdings was founded in China with just 11 computer scientists and $25,000 in cash, with the idea of delivering information technology more rapidly to consumers and businesses in China. In 2003, Legend began marketing its products under the Lenovo brand, melding the "Le" from Legend with "novo," the Latin word for "new." It officially changed its company name from Legend to Lenovo a year later. In 2005, Lenovo Groups acquisition of IBMs PC division essentially combined

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the market strength of Lenovo in China and elsewhere in Asia among consumers with IBMs leadership position in Europe and North America among business PC users. In 2007, Lenovo launched the IdeaPad line of consumer-branded PC products and dropped the use of the IBM logo on all its products two years ahead of schedule. In 2008, Lenovo completed its entry into the server market with the launch of the ThinkServer portfolio, designed to deliver a better server experience for small and medium business customers. Products Think Pad Idea Pad Essential Features of Lenovo AMD Processors Microsoft Office Starter 2010 Discrete Graphics Solid Stage Storage Drives Integrated Color Calibration Hard/storage drive impact protection Super High Resolution Display LED Backlit Display

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Optional SuperBright Outdoor panel Optimal Multitouch Panel Palm-rest digitizer and pen Password Management Software Integrated fingerprint reader

Sony Vaio

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History of Sony In late 1945, after the end of World War II, Masaru Ibuka started a radio repair shop in a bomb-damaged department store Shirokiya building in Nihonbashi of Tokyo. The next year, his colleague, Akio Morita, joined him and they founded a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). The company built Japan's first tape recorder, called the Type-G. In the early 1950s, Ibuka traveled in the United States and heard about Bell Labs' invention of the transistor. He convinced Bell to license the transistor technology to his Japanese company. While most American companies were researching the transistor for its military applications, Ibuka and Morita looked to apply it to communications. Although the American companies Regency Electronics and Texas Instruments built the first transistor radio as joint venture, it was Ibuka's company that made them commercially successful for the first time.

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Sony's headquarters moved to Minato, Tokyo from Shinagawa, Tokyo around the end of 2006. Sony Corporation commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Knan Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It ranked 73 on the 2011 list of Fortune Global 500. Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics products for the consumer and professional markets. Its founders Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka derived the name from sonus, the Latin word for sound, and also from the English slang word "sonny", since they considered themselves to be "sonny boys", a loan word into Japanese which in the early 1950s connoted smart and presentable young men. VAIO is a sub-brand used for many of Sony's computer products. Originally an acronym of Video Audio Integrated Operation, this was amended to Visual Audio Intelligent Organizer in 2008 to celebrate the brand's 10th anniversary. The branding was created by Timothy Healy to distinguish items that integrate consumer audio and video with conventional computing products, such as the Sony VAIO W Series personal computer, which functioned as a regular computer and a miniature entertainment center. Although Sony made computers in the 1980's exclusively for the local (Japan) market, the company withdrew from the computer business around the turn of the decade. Sony's reentry to the global computer market under the new VAIO brand began in 1996 with the PCV series of desktops. The VAIO logo also represents the integration of analog and digital technology with the 'VA' representing an analog wave and the 'IO' representing a

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digital binary code. Sony in India One of the most recognized brand names in the world today, Sony Corporation, Japan, established its Indian operations in November 1994, focusing on the sales and marketing of Sony products in the country. In a span of 15 years, Sony India has exemplified the quest for excellence in the world of digital lifestyle becoming the countrys foremost consumer electronics brand. With relentless commitment to quality, consistent dedication to customer satisfaction and unparalleled standards of service, Sony India is recognized as a benchmark for new age technology, superior quality, digital concepts and personalized service that has ensured loyal customers and nationwide acclaim in the i industry. With brands names such as BRAVIA, BRAVIA Theatre, Cyber-shot Handycam, VAIO, Tablet, Walkman, Xplod, Memory Stick PlayStation. Sony has established itself as a value leader across its various product categories of Audio/Visual Entertainment products, Information and Communications Recording Media, Business and P Professional products. In India, Sony has its footprint across all major towns and cities through a distribution network comprising of over 5000 dealers and distributors, 240 exclusive Sony outlets and 19 direct branch locations. Manned by customer friendly and informed sales persons, Sonys exclusive stores Sony Center are fast becoming the most v visible face of the company in India. Sony India also has a strong service presence across the country with 20 company owned and 190 authorized service centers and 16 exclusive demonstration centers. A distinctive feature of Sonys service is its highly motivated and well-trained staff that provides the kind of attentive and sensitive service that is rare today.

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Sony is committed to ensuring that both the products and the marketing activities employed truly make a difference to peoples lifestyles and offer them new dimensions of enjoyment. Products VAIO S Series VAIO C Series VAIO E Series VAIO Y Series VAIO L Series VAIO F Series

Features of Sony VAIO Laptops TFT color display VAIO Display Plus, LED backlight Blu-ray Blue Tooth The large 16.4(41.6 cms) display delivers crisp images with high contrast. The top panel features a black matte finish for a classic definitive look. Advanced Connectivity Touch operation Easily Portable.

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CHAPTER 4 PROFILE OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA SELECTED FOR THE STUDY

GUNTUR Guntur is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, located 64 km to the north and west of the Bay of Bengal. It is approximately 1,600 km to the south of the national capital, New Delhi and 266 kilometers south east of state capital, Hyderabad. The city has a population of 651,382 as per 2011 census, with an Urban Agglomeration nearing to one million and it is the fourth largest city in the state by population. Guntur is a centre of learning and the administrative capital of Guntur district, which is home of historically significant Amaravati, Undavalli caves, Kondavid Fort, Nagarjunakonda and Sitanagaram monuments. The city is also a centre for business, industry, and agriculture. The region is identified as a major transportation and textile hub in India. Additionally, the Guntur area economy has an agricultural component that is internationally known for its exports of chillies, cotton, and tobacco. Modern Guntur With the advent of the Europeans the city has attained national and international significance. The French shifted their headquarters from Kondavid Fort to here in 1752, probably because of the ample availability of water due to the two large tanks. This settlement formed the nucleus of the modern city.

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The Nizam and Haidar Ali too ruled the town till it came under the British in 1788. It was made the headquarters of a district after it that was abolished in 1859, only to be reconstituted in 1904. The city rapidly became a major market for agricultural produce from the hinterland due to the opening of the railway link in 1890. The expansion continued post independence as well and was concentrated in what is now called "New Guntur". The current size of the city has an inner radius of about 9.7 km. The City-region comprises the surrounding suburban and rural areas spanning in all the directions. New townships are mushrooming in these areas and it is considered as the fourth largest city in the state. On 7/13/2012 a new Government Order was issued adding 10 adjacent villages to be part of the city with 'Greater' status. Demographics As of the 2011 India census, Guntur has a population of 651,382 and with the addition of 10 villages (as of 7/13/2012) into the city, the population has exceeded to more than 800,000. The city is the 4th largest in the state by population and area. Female population is exceeding the male population. Guntur has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 70%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 70%. 11% of the population in the city is under 6 years of age. Culture and Diversity With the culture and traditions of ageless Sanatana Dharma/Ancient Vedic Civilization (known as Hinduism) and its principles Sarv Jan Sukhin Bhavantu, the Guntur Region had a place for all religions, castes, sects and creeds. Guntur is known for

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its diverse culture. One of the purportedly lost tribes of Israel called Bene Ephraim has a presence in Guntur, with even a Jewish synagogue. Religious faiths such as Islam and Christianity lead a harmonious, peaceful existence. Language and Festivals Telugu is the main language of communication in the city while Urdu is the other widely spoken language. One of the earliest/purest forms of Telugu language can be noticed in this region. The famous Mahakavi Tikkana (12051288) was born in this region. Most of the Muslims in the city speak Urdu as their mother tongue, though they are fluent in Telugu. The culture is vibrant with many festivals that have been celebrated over thousands of years. Those festivals observed in Guntur with great pomp and splendor are: Deepavali, Krishna-Ashtami, Rama Navami, Sankranti, Sivaratri, Ugadi, Vijaya Dasami, Vinayaka-Chaviti, Ekadasi, Karthika Purnima. Also, noticeable are festivals introduced before a few centuries, including Christmas, Eid ul-Fitr, Muharram, Ramadan. The 30th International Kalachakra festival was held at Amaravati near Guntur. City Lifestyle The city's lifestyle has a mixture of both urban and rural with some cosmopolitan element. Like any typical Indian city, the majority of the population is from middle class and lower middle-class families. With a reasonable cost of living and most basic amenities readily available, the city attracts people from other regions. Guntur is known for its fusion of traditional Indian and Western cultures. Guntur's residents wear both Indian style and Western style clothing. The common traditional clothing for women is a Saree, Salwar and

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for men formally, a Dhovathi or Pancha. Economy Cotton-Tobacco-Chilly City Guntur city and its region is a major commercial centre in India. Cotton, tobacco and chilli are some of the major commodities that are exported from here to different parts of the world. The city hosts the largest Asian market for red chillies. The Tobacco Board, India, a part of the Government of India, is headquartered in Guntur. The chillies that are grown in this region are some of the spiciest in the world, and are in constant competition with chillies from Mexico for first place. One of the first of its kind, a global 'Spice Park' is currently being setup in the area. The cotton that grows in the region is used in making some of the finest sarees in India. Academics/Education and Research Guntur is one of the first cities to provide higher education and graduate programs in India. The Acharya Nagarjuna University is one of the largest universities in the country, and covers various institutions from 3 districts. There are a number of graduate schools, colleges, and high schools providing basic and higher education in agricultural, arts, biomed, engineering, management, medical, nursing, pharmaceutical, sciences, and technology in the region. The Guntur Institute of Medical Sciences is one of many premier institutes in the city region. The Vedic University near Guntur specializes in the teaching of Vedic Sciences, other related philosophies, and the Vedanta. Climate

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The climate in Guntur City is very tropical in nature, but there are dry spells especially during the winter season. The average temperature is warm to hot throughout the year, with temperatures ranging from approximately 16C to 48C. The summer season, especially during May/June has the highest temperatures, but monsoon rains usually follow these season. The winter season from October to February is the most enjoyable with a pleasant climate. Summer clothing suffices throughout the year. Local Cuisine Guntur City is famous for the food items such as mirchi bajji (mirapakaya bajji), aavakaaya pickle, gongura pickle, with traditional Andhra style meals and common breakfast items such as Idli, dosa and puri. There are many top quality Hotels that offer varieties of food items from several regions of India. The common masala stands, jilebi pushcarts, sugar cane juice sellers can be noticed in every corner of the city. There are also International Fast Food and pizza outlets. The city has many star class lodgings, inns and hotels.

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CHAPTER 5 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Analysis of data is a process of inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of highlighting useful information, suggesting conclusions, and supporting decision making. Data analysis has multiple facets and approaches, encompassing diverse techniques under a variety of names, in different business, science, and social science domains. In statistical applications, some people divide data analysis into descriptive statistics, exploratory data analysis (EDA), and confirmatory data analysis (CDA). EDA focuses on discovering new features in the data and CDA on confirming or falsifying existing hypotheses. Predictive analytics focuses on application of statistical or structural models for predictive forecasting or classification, while text analytics applies statistical, linguistic, and structural techniques to extract and classify information from textual sources, a species of unstructured data. All are varieties of data analysis. The data collected from the respondents is systematically analyzed and presented in the form of Tables under various headings in the following pages. They are done in such a way that a detailed analysis can be made so as to present suitable interpretations for the same. Accordingly this chapter is divided into two sections, Section A and Section B

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Section A: Deals with simple percentage analysis of collected data. Section B: Deals with the application of Statistical tools such as ANOVA Chi Square Analysis Friedman Ranking Test

Simple Percentage Analysis Simple Percentage analysis is one of the simplest forms of the quantitative (statistical) analysis. It involves the analysis of two variables often denoted as X, Y), for the purpose of determining the empirical relationship between them. In order to see if the variables are related to one another, it is common to measure how those two variables simultaneously change together. The tool is used for all the questions. TABLE NO: 5.1 TABLE SHOWS THE GENDER WISE DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESPONDENTS Gender Male Female Total No of Respondents 212 188 400 Percentage 53 47 100

Inference Table 4.1 reveals that 53% of the Respondents are Male and 47% of the Respondents are Female. Majority of the Respondents are Male.

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EXHIBIT 4.1 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE GENDER WISE DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESPONDENTS

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TABLE NO: 5.2 TABLE EXHIBITS THE AGE WISE DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESPONDENTS Age Less than 20 Years 20 30 Years 31 40 Years Above 40 Years Total No: of Respondents 20 320 52 8 400 Percentage 5 80 13 2 100

Inference Table 4.2 reveals that 80% of the respondents, which is the majority fall under the age group 20 30 years, 13% of the respondents fall under the category 31 40 years, 5% of the respondents fall under the category of les than 20 years and 2% of the respondents fall under the category of above 40 years. Majority of the respondents fall under the Age group 20 30 years.

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EXHIBIT 4.2 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE AGE WISE DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESPONDENTS

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TABLE NO: 5.3 TABLE SHOWING THE MARITAL STATUS OF THE RESPONDENTS Marital Status Married Unmarried Total No of Respondents 100 300 400 Percentage 25 75 100

Inference: Table 4.3 reveals that 25% of the respondents are married and 75% of the respondents are never married. Majority of the respondents are never married.

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EXHIBIT 4.3 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE MARITAL STATUS OF THE RESPONDENTS

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TABLE NO: 5.4 TABLE SHOWING THE EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION OF THE RESPONDENTS Educational Qualification School Level Under Graduate Post Graduate Others Total No: of Respondents 4 128 260 8 400 Percentage 1 32 65 2 100

Inference: Table No: 5.4 reveals that 65% of the respondents, which is the majority are Post Graduates, 32% of the respondents are Under Graduates, 2% of the respondents fall under the category of others who doesnt have preliminary education and 1% of the respondents have completed their school level studies. Majority of the respondents are Post Graduates.

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EXHIBIT 4.4 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION OF THE RESPONDENTS

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TABLE NO: 5.5 TABLE SHOWING THE EMPLOYMENT STATUS OF THE RESPONDENTS Employment Status Business Professional Salaried Student Total No: of Respondents 12 80 188 120 400 Percentage 3 20 47 30 100

Inference: Table No: 5.5 reveals that 47% of the respondents are Salaried Employees, 30% of the respondents are Students, 20% of the respondents are Professionals and 3% of the respondents are into Business. Majority of the respondents are Salaried Employees.

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EXHIBIT 4.5 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE OCCUPATION STATUS OF THE RESPONDENTS

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TABLE NO: 5.6 TABLE SHOWING THE MONTHLY INCOME OF THE RESPONDENTS FAMILY. Income Less than 10,000 10,001 20,000 20,001 30,000 Above 30,000 Total No: of Respondents 28 80 52 240 400 Percentage 7 20 13 60 100

Inference: Table No: 5.6 reveals that the monthly income of 60% of the respondents is above 30,000, and that of 20% is between 10,0001nd 20,000 and that of 13% is between 20,001 and 30,000 and that of 7% is less than 10,000.

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EXHIBIT 4.6 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE FAMILYS MONTHLY INCOME OF THE RESPONDENTS

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TABLE NO: 5.7 TABLE SHOWING THE LAPTOP BRAND POSSESSED BY THE RESPONDENTS. Laptop Brand Dell Acer Lenovo HP Sony Total No: of Respondents 188 84 36 60 32 400 Percentage 47 21 9 15 8 100

Inference: Table No: 4.7 reveals that out of 100% respondents, 47% possess Dell Laptops, 21% possess Acer Laptops, 15% possess HP Brand, 9% possess Lenovo and 8% possess Sony Laptops. Majority of the respondents possess Dell Laptops.

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EXHIBIT 4.7 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE BRAND OF THE LAPTOP POSSESSED BY THE RESPONDENTS

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TABLE NO: 4.8 TABLE SHOWING THE SOURCE OF AWARENESS OF THE RESPONDENTS. Source Advertisements Friends & Relatives Dealers/Representatives Others Total No: of Respondents 140 224 20 16 400 Percentage 35 56 5 4 100

Inference: Table No: 4.8 reveals that the source of information of 56% of the respondents is friends and relatives and that of 35% of the respondents is Advertisements and that of 5% of the respondents is Dealers and Representatives and 4% of the respondents collected information from several other medium. Majority of repondents rely on the information provided by Friends and Relatives.

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EXHIBIT 4.8 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE SOURCE OF AWARENESS OF THE RESPONDENTS

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TABLE NO: 4.9 TABLE SHOWING THE MEDIUM OF ADVERTISEMENT WHICH INCLINED BRAND CHOICE Medium of Advertisement Newspapers & Magazines Hoardings TV Internet Total No: of Respondents 48 4 36 52 140 Percentage 12 1 9 13 100

Inference: Table No 4.9 reveals that the medium of advertisement which influenced 13% of the respondents is Internet, 12% of the respondents is Newspapers and Magazines, 9% of the respondents is TV and 1% of the respondents is Hoardings. The medium of Advertisement which influenced majority of the respondents is Internet.

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EXHIBIT 4.9 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE AWARENESS OF THE RESPONDENTS THROUGH DIFFERENT MODES OF ADVERTISEMENT.

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TABLE NO: 4.10 TABLE PRESENTS THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE RESPONDENTS USE THE LAPTOP. No: of Respondents/Perce ntage No of Respondents Education Percentage calculated No of Respondents Business Percentage calculated No of Respondents Entertainment Percentage calculated

Factors

Rank 1 236 59 164 41 60 15

Rank 2 108 27 156 39 128 32

Rank 3 56 14 80 20 212 53

Total 400 100 400 100 400 100

Inference It is understood from Table No: 4.10 that, 59% of the respondents rank first for Education, 41% rank first for Business and 15% rank first for Entertainment. 27% of the respondents rank second for Education, 39% rank second for Business and 32% rank second for Entertainment. 14% of the respondents rank third for Education, 20% rank third for Business and 53% rank third for Entertainment. Majority of the respondents use laptops for education purpose.

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EXHIBIT 4.10 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE RESPONDENTS USE THE LAPTOP

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TABLE NO: 4.11 TABLE ILLUSTRATES THE FACTORS CONSIDERED WHILE SELECTING THE LAPTOP No: of Respondents/P ercentage No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated

Factors

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Rank 4

Rank 5

Total

After Sales Service

20 5 244 61 120 30 24 6 8 2

44 11 124 31 216 54 32 8 8 2

188 47 16 4 40 10 136 34 16 4

148 35 16 4 8 2 184 46 24 6

0 0 0 0 16 4 24 6 344 86

400 100 400 100 400 100 400 100 400 100

Brand Reputation

Price Factors

Easy Availability

Offers

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Inference: It is implicit from Table No: 4.11 that, 5% of the respondents rank first for After Sales Services, 61% of the respondents rank first for Brand Reputation, 30% of the respondents rank first for Price factors, 6% of the respondents rank first for Easy Availability and 2% of the respondents rank first for Offers. 11% of the respondents rank second for After Sales Services, 31% of the respondents rank second for Brand Reputation, 54% of the respondents rank second for Price factors, 8% of the respondents rank second for Easy Availability and 2% of the respondents rank second for Offers. 47% of the respondents rank third for After Sales Services, 4% of the respondents rank third for Brand Reputation, 10% of the respondents rank third for Price factors, 34% of the respondents rank third for Easy Availability and 4% of the respondents rank third for Offers. 35% of the respondents rank fourth for After Sales Services, 4% of the respondents rank fourth for Brand Reputation, 2% of the respondents rank fourth for Price factors, 46% of the respondents rank fourth for Easy Availability and 6% of the respondents rank fourth for Offers. None of the respondents rank fifth for second After Sales Service and Brand Reputation, 4% of the respondents rank fifth for Price factors, 6% of the respondents rank fifth for Easy Availability and 86% of the respondents rank fifth for Offers. Majority of the respondents rank first for Brand Reputation.

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EXHIBIT 4.11 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE VARIOUS FACTORS CONSIDERED BY THE RESPONDENTS WHILE SELECTING THE LAPTOP

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TABLE NO: 4.12 TABLE PROVES THE COMPONENTS CONSIDERED WHILE PURCHASING THE LAPTOP. Compon ent No: of Respondents/Per centage No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Rank 4

Rank 5

Total

96 24 88 22 48 12 216 54 16 4

136 34 48 12 120 30 64 16 24 6

104 26 136 34 88 22 56 14 40 10

40 10 112 28 120 30 48 12 56 14

24 6 16 4 24 6 16 4 264 66

400 100 400 100 400 100 400 100 400 100

RAM

Hard Disk

Mother Board

Processo r

Touch Pad

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Inference: It is implied from Table No: 4.12 that, 24% of the respondents rank first for RAM, 22% of the respondents rank first for Hard Disk, 12% of the respondents rank first for Mother Board, 54% of the respondents rank first for Processor and 4% of the respondents rank first for Touch Pad. 34% of the respondents rank second for RAM, 12% of the respondents rank second for Hard Disk, 30% of the respondents rank second for Mother Board, 16% of the respondents rank second for Processor and 6% of the respondents rank second for Touch Pad. 26% of the respondents rank third for RAM, 34% of the respondents rank third for Hard Disk, 22% of the respondents rank third for Mother Board, 14% of the respondents rank third for Processor and 10% of the respondents rank third for Touch Pad. 10% of the respondents rank fourth for RAM, 28% of the respondents rank fourth for Hard Disk, 30% of the respondents rank fourth for Mother Board, 12% of the respondents rank fourth for Processor and 14% of the respondents rank fourth for Touch Pad. 6% of the respondents rank fifth for RAM, 4% of the respondents rank fifth for Hard Disk, 6% of the respondents rank fifth for Mother Board, 4% of the respondents rank fifth for Processor and 66% of the respondents rank fifth for Touch Pad. Majority of the respondents rank first for Processor.

108

EXHIBIT 4.12 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE COMPONENTS, WHICH INFLUENCES THE RESPONDENTS WHILE SELECTING A LAPTOP

109

TABLE NO: 4.13 TABLE PRESENTING THE FEATURES CONSIDERED BEFORE PURCHASING A LAPTOP

Features

No: of Respondents/Per centage No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Rank 4

Rank 5 Total

96 24 128 32 144 36 104 26 72 18

80 20 88 22 72 18 112 28 40 10

40 10 72 18 64 16 72 18 96 24

112 28 48 12 72 18 56 14 40 10

72 18 64 16 48 12 56 14 152 38

400 100 400 100 400 100 400 100 400 100

Utility

Model

Comfort

Economy

Durability

110

Inference: It is implied from Table No: 4.13 that, 24% of the respondents rank first for Utility, 32% of the respondents rank first for Model, 36% of the respondents rank first for Comfort, 72% of the respondents rank first for Economy and 18% of the respondents rank first for Durability. 20% of the respondents rank second for Utility, 22% of the respondents rank second for Model, 18% of the respondents rank second for Comfort, 28% of the respondents rank second for Economy and 10% of the respondents rank second for Durability. 10% of the respondents rank third for Utility, 18% of the respondents rank third for Model, 16% of the respondents rank third for Comfort, 18% of the respondents rank third for Economy and 24% of the respondents rank third for Durability. 28% of the respondents rank fourth for Utility, 12% of the respondents rank fourth for Model, 18% of the respondents rank fourth for Comfort, 14% of the respondents rank fourth for Economy and 10% of the respondents rank fourth for Durability. 18% of the respondents rank fifth for Utility, 16% of the respondents rank fifth for Model, 12% of the respondents rank fifth for Comfort, 14% of the respondents rank fifth for Economy and 38% of the respondents rank fifth for Durability.

111

EXHIBIT 4.13 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE VARIOUS FACTORS CONSIDERED BY THE RESPONDENTS WHILE PURCHASING THE LAPTOP

112

TABLE NO: 4.14 TABLE SHOWS THE MONEY SPEND ON LAPTOP PURCHASE. Amount Paid 25,000 30,000 30,001 35,000 35,001 40,000 Above 40,000 Total No: of Respondents 144 108 68 80 400 Percentage 36 27 17 20 100

Inference: It is clear from the Table No: 4.14 that 36% of the Respondents spent between 25,000 to 30,000 to purchase the Laptop, 27% spent between 30,001 35,000, 17% spent between 35,001 40, 000 and 20% spent above 40,000 to buy the Laptop. Majority of the respondents spent between 25,000 and 30,000 for Laptop purchase.

113

EXHIBIT 4.14 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE AMOUNT SPENT BY THE RESPONDENTS TO PURCHASE A LAPTOP

114

TABLE NO: 4.15 TABLE EXHIBITS THE SOURCE OF LAPTOP PURCHASE. Source Dealers Companys Direct Outlet Shopping Malls Others Total No: of Respondents 168 112 96 24 400 Percentage 42 28 24 6 100

Inference It is evident from Table No: 4.15 that 42% of the Respondents purchased the Laptop from Dealers, 28% from Companys Direct outlet, 24% from Shopping Malls and 6% from other Sources.

115

EXHIBIT 4.15 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE SOURCE OF PURCHASE OF THE LAPTOP

116

TABLE NO:4.16 TABLE SHOWS THE OPINION OF THE RESPONDENTS ON PRICE OF LAPTOP Opinion on Price Very High High Reasonable Low Very Low Total No: of Respondents 16 88 296 0 0 400 Percentage 4 22 74 0 0 100

Inference: It is clear from the Table No: 4.16 that 74% of the Respondents feel that the Price of the laptop is Reasonable, 88% feel that the Price is High and 4% of the Respondents feel that the Price of the Laptop is very High.None of the Respondents feel that the Price is Low. Majority of the respondents feel that the price of the Laptop is high.

117

EXHIBIT 4.16 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE OPINION REGARDING THE PRICE OF THE LAPTOP

118

TABLE NO:4.17 TABLE SHOWS THE TYPE OF PURCHASE MADE BY THE RESPONDENTS. Type of Purchase Cash Credit Total No of Respondents 332 68 400 Percentage 83 17 100

Inference: It is evident from the Table that 83% of the Respondents made Cash Purchase and 17% made Credit Purchase. Majority of the respondents made Cash purchase.

119

EXHIBIT 4.17 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE MODE OF PURCHASE OF THE LAPTOP

120

TABLE NO:4.17.1 TABLE PRESENTING THE SOURCE OF PAYMENT IN CREDIT PURCHASE. Source of Payment Bank Loan Private Finance Total No of Respondents 36 32 68 Percentage 53 47 100

Inference: It is evident from Table No: 4.17.1 that 53% of the respondents arranged payment through Bank Loans and 47% arranged from Private Finance. Majority of the respondents arranged payment through Bank Loan.

121

EXHIBIT 4.17.1 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE SOURCE OF CREDIT FOR PURCHASING THE LAPTOP

122

TABLE NO: 4.18 TABLE SHOWING THE DETAILS OF WARRANTY PROVIDED FOR THE LAPTOP Warranty Details Less than 1 Year 1 - 2 Years 2 3 Years 3 4 Years Above 4 Years Total No of Respondents 24 296 40 20 20 400 Percentage 6 74 10 5 5 100

Inference: It is clear from the Table No: 4.18 that 74% of the Rsponents received 1 2 Years warranty from the Service provider, 10% of the Respondents received 2 3 Years warranty, 6% of the Respondents received Less than 1 year warranty, 5% of the Respondents received 3 4 Years warranty and 5% of the Received Above 4 years warranty. Majority of the respondents received 1 2 years warranty from the service provider.

123

EXHIBIT 4.18 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE WARRANTY PERIOD PROVIDED FOR THE LAPTOP

124

TABLE NO: 4.19 TABLE PRESENTS THE TIME OF PURCHASE OF THE LAPTOP. Time of Purchase Before 4 Years Before 3 Years Before 2 Years Before 1 Year Recently Total No of Respondents 24 76 144 68 88 400 Percentage 6 19 36 17 22 100

Inference: Table No: 4.19 shows that 36% of the Respondents Purchased the Laptop before 2 years, 22% purchased before recenthly, 19% purchased before 3 years, 17% purchased before 1 year and 6% of the Respondendents purchased the Laptop before 4 years. Majority of the respondents purchased Laptop before 2 years.

125

EXHIBIT 4.19 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE YEAR OF PURCHASE OF THE LAPTOP

126

TABLE NO: 4.20 TABLE EXHIBITS WHETHER THE RESPONENTS FACED ANY PROBLEM WITH LAPTOP Problem History Yes No Total No of Respondents 84 316 400 Percentage 21 79 100

Inference: Table No: 4.20 shows that 79% of the Respondents never faced any problems with the Laptop whereas 21% of the Respondents faced Problems with the Laptop. Majority of the respondents never faced any problems with the Laptop.

127

EXHIBIT 4.20 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE PROBLEMS FACED BY THE RESPONDENTS WITH THE LAPTOP

128

TABLE NO: 4.20.1 TABLE SHOWS THE COMPONENTS ON WHICH RESPONDENTS FACED PROBLEMS. Components Processor RAM Mother Board Hard Disk Display Total No of Respondents 6 7 11 18 42 84 Percentage 7 8 13 22 50 100

Inference: Table No: 4.20.1 shows that 50% of the Respondents faced problems with the Display of the Laptop, 22% with Hard Disk, 13% with Mother Board, 8% with RAM and 7% faced problem with the Processor. Majority of the respondents faced problems with the Display of the Laptop.

129

EXHIBIT 4.20.1 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE COMPONENTS OF THE LAPTOP ON WHICH THE PROBLEM EXISTS

130

TABLE NO: 4.21 TABLE EXHIBITS RECEIPT OF PROMPT SERVICE FROM THE SERVICE PROVIDER. Received Prompt Service Yes No Total No of Respondents 292 108 400 Percentage 73 27 100

Inference: It is known from the Table No: 4.21 that, 73% of the Respondents received prompt service from the Service Provider and 27% of the Respondents have not received prompt service. Majority of the respondents received prompt service from the service provider.

131

EXHIBIT 4.21 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE PROMPTNESS OF THE SERVICE RECEIVED BY THE RESPONDENT FROM THE SELLER

132

TABLE NO: 4.22 TABLE SHOWS THE TIME TAKEN TO PROVIDE THE SERVICE TO THE RESPONDENTS Time Taken Immediately Less than a Day Less than a Week Others Total No of Respondents 80 104 204 12 400 Percentage 20 26 51 3 100

Inference: Table 4.23 shows that 51% of the Respondents received service in less than a week, 26% received in less than a day, 20% received immediately and for 3% it took more time. Majority of the respondents received service in less than a week.

133

EXHIBIT 4.22 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE TIME TAKEN BY THE SUPPLIER IN PROVIDING THE SERVICE

134

TABLE NO: 4.23 TABLE SHOWS THE SATISFACTION LEVEL OF RESPONDENTS ON VARIOUS FACTORS. No: of Respondents/Per centage No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated No of Respondents Percentage calculated

Factors

VHS 48 12 116 29 92 23 100 25 112 28 64 16

HS 164 41 188 47 148 37 152 38 160 40 160 40

MS 168 42 88 22 108 27 128 32 112 28 128 32

LS 16 4 8 2 44 11 16 4 8 2 32 8

VLS 4 1 0 0 8 2 4 1 8 2 16 4

Total 400 100 400 100 400 100 400 100 400 100 400 100

Price

Quality

Repairs

Availability

Durability

After Sales Service

135

Inference: 1. Price: 12% of the Respondents have Very high levels of Satisfaction, 41% of the Respondents are Highly Satisfied, 42% of the Respondents are Moderately Satisfied, 4% of the Respondents have Low levels of Satisfaction and 1% of the Respondents have Very Low Levels of Satisfaction. 2. Quality: 29% of the Respondents have Very High Levels of Satisfaction, 47% of the Respondents are Highly Satisfied, 22% of the Respondents are Moderately Satisfied, 2% of the Respondents have Low Levels of Satisfaction and No Respondent falls in the category of Very Low satisfaction. 3. Repairs: 23% of the Respondents have Very High Levels of Satisfaction, 37% of the Respondents are Highly Satisfied, 27% of the Respondents are Moderately Satisfied, 11% of the Respondents have Low Levels of Satisfaction and 2% of the Respondents have Very Low Levels of Satisfaction. 4. Availability: 25% of the Respondents have Very High Levels of Satisfaction, 38% of the Respondents are Highly Satisfied, 32% of the Respondents are Moderately Satisfied, 4% of the Respondents have Low Levels of Satisfaction and 1% of the Respondents have Very Low Levels of Satisfaction. 5. Durability: 28% of the Respondents have Very High Levels of Satisfaction, 40% of the Respondents are Highly Satisfied, 28% of the Respondents are Moderately Satisfied, 2% of the Respondents have Low Levels of Satisfaction and 2% of the Respondents have Very Low Levels of Satisfaction. 6. After Sales Service: 16% of the Respondents have Very High Levels of Satisfaction, 40% of the Respondents are Highly Satisfied, 32% of the Respondents are Moderately Satisfied,

136

8% of the Respondents have Low Levels of Satisfaction and 4% of the Respondents have Very Low Levels of Satisfaction. Majority of the respondents are highly satisfied with the Price, Quality, Repairs, Availability, Durability and after sales service of the Laptop. TABLE NO: 4.24 TABLE SHOWS WHETHER THE RESPONDENTS USE SINGLE OPERATING SYSTEM OR NOT. Single Operating System or Not Yes No Total No of Respondents 364 36 400 Percentage 91 9 100

Inference: Table No: 4.24 shows that 91% of the Respondents use Single Operating System for their Laptops and 9% of the Respondents use more than One Operating System. Majority of the respondents use Single Operating System

137

EXHIBIT 4.23 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS USING SINGLE OPERATING SYSTEM

138

TABLE NO: 4.25 TABLE SHOWS THE OPERATING SYSTEM USED BY THE RESPONDENTS. Operating System Windows 7 Windows XP Windows 2000 Linux Vista Others Total No of Respondents 124 212 4 16 40 36 400 Percentage 31 53 1 4 10 9 100

Inference: Table No: 4.25 shows that 53% of the Respondents use Windows XP as Operating System for their Laptops, 31% of the Respondents use Windows 7, 10% of the Respondents use Vista, 4% of the Respondents use Linux, 1% of the Respondents use Windows 2000 and 9% of the Respondents use other Operating Systems for their Laptops. Majority of the respondents use Windows XP as the operating system.

139

EXHIBIT NO: 4.25 EXHIBIT SHOWS THE OPERATING SYSTEM USED BY THE RESPONDENTS

140

ANOVA In statistics, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is a collection of statistical models, and their associated procedures, in which the observed variance in a particular variable is partitioned into components attributable to different sources of variation. In its simplest form, ANOVA provides a statistical test of whether or not the means of several groups are all equal, and therefore generalizes t-test to more than two groups. Doing multiple twosample t-tests would result in an increased chance of committing a type I error. For this reason, ANOVAs are useful in comparing two, three, or more means. Age Group The following table gives the Mean and Standard Deviation value of the Respondents who belong to different age group regarding the Level of Satisfaction. TABLE NO: 4.26 TABLE SHOWS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE AGE OF THE RESPONDENTS AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION Age Group < 20 Years 20-30 Years 31-40 Years > 40 Years Sum 20 320 52 8 Average 4 64 10.4 1.6 Variance 2.5 1241 1.3 0.8

The above table gives the Mean Values of the different age groups, which vary between to 1.6 to 64. The Highest Mean score of 64 is found among the Respondents who

141

are between the Age Group 20 - 30. Hence their level of Satisfaction towards the Laptop is higher when compared to others. Hypothesis H0: There is no significant relationship between the Age Group of the Respondents and their Level of Satisfaction. The following Table gives the result of ANOVA Test. TABLE NO: 4.26(A) ANOVA TABLE Source of Variation Between Groups Within Groups Total Sum of Squares 13113.6 4982.4 18096 Degree of Freedom 3 16 19 Mean Square 4371.2 311.4 F Ratio 14.03725 P - Value 9.58E-05 F crit 3.238872

Inference: The ANOVA results show that at 5% significance, with the significant value of 0.001, there is significant relationship between the Age Group of the Respondents and their level of Satisfaction towards the Laptop. Hence Hypothesis is Rejected.

142

Educational Qualification The following table gives the Mean and Standard Deviation value of the Respondents who possess different Qualification regarding the Level of Satisfaction. TABLE NO: 4.27 TABLE SHOWS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION OF THE RESPONDENTS AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION Educational Qualification School Level Under Graduate Post Graduate Others Sum 4 128 260 8 Average 0.8 25.6 52 1.6 Variance 0.7 86.8 2336.5 0.8

The above table gives the Mean Values of the Respondents who possess different Educational Qualification, which vary from 0.8 to 52. The Highest Mean score of 52 is found among the Respondents who are Post Graduates. Hence their level of Satisfaction towards the Laptop is higher when compared to others.

143

Hypothesis H0: There is no significant relationship between the Educational Qualification of the Respondents and their Level of Satisfaction. The following Table gives the result of ANOVA Test. TABLE NO: 4.27(A) ANOVA TABLE Source of Variation Between Groups Within Groups Total Sum of Squares 8812.8 9699.2 18512 Degree of Freedom 3 16 19 Mean Square 2937.6 606.2 F Ratio 4.845925 P - Value 0.013842 F crit 3.238872

Inference: The ANOVA results show that at 5% significance, with the significant value of 0.001, there is significant relationship between the Educational Qualification of the Respondents and their level of Satisfaction towards the Laptop. Hence Hypothesis is Rejected.

144

Occupation Status The following table gives the Mean and Standard Deviation value of the Respondents whos Occupation Statuses differ and the Level of Satisfaction. TABLE NO: 4.28 TABLE SHOWS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE OCCUPATION STATUS OF THE RESPONDENTS AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION Occupation Status Business Professional Salaried Students Sum 12 80 188 120 Average 2.4 16 37.6 24 Variance 28 74 2442.8 434

The above table gives the Mean Values of the Respondents who differ in their Occupation Status, which vary between 2.4 to 37.6. The Highest Mean score of 37.6 is found among the Respondents who are Salaried. Hence their level of Satisfaction towards the Laptop is higher when compared to others.

145

Hypothesis H0: There is no significant relationship between the Occupation Status of the Respondents and their Level of Satisfaction. The following Table gives the result of ANOVA Test. TABLE NO: 4.28(A) ANOVA TABLE Source of Variation Between Groups Within Groups Total Sum of Squares 13113.6 4982.4 18096 Degree of Freedom 3 16 19 Mean Square 4371.2 311.4 F Ratio 14.03725 P Value 9.58E-05 F crit 3.238872

Inference: The ANOVA results show that at 5% significance, with the significant value of 0.001, there is significant relationship between the Occupation Status of the Respondents and their level of Satisfaction towards the Laptop. Hence Hypothesis is Rejected.

146

Familys Monthly Income The following table gives the Mean and Standard Deviation value of the Respondents whos Monthly Income differ and the Level of Satisfaction. TABLE NO: 4.29 TABLE SHOWS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MONTHLY INCOME OF THE RESPONDENTS AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION Familys Monthly Income < 10,000 10,001-20,000 20,001-30,000 >30,000 No: of Respondents 28 80 52 240 Mean 5.6 16 10.4 48 Standard Deviation 17.8 186.5 30.8 2844

Inference The above table gives the Mean Values of the Respondents who differ in their Monthly Income, which vary from 5.6 to 48. The Highest Mean score of 48 is found among the Respondents whose monthly income is above 30,000. Hence their level of Satisfaction towards the Laptop is higher when compared to others.

147

Hypothesis H0: There is no significant relationship between the Monthly Income of the Respondents and their Level of Satisfaction. The following Table gives the result of ANOVA Test. TABLE NO: 4.29(A) ANOVA TABLE Source of Variation Between Groups Within Groups Total Sum of Squares 5497.6 12316.4 17814 Degree of Freedom 3 16 19 Mean Square 1832.533 769.775 F Ratio 2.380609 P Value 0.107826 F crit 3.238872

Inference: The ANOVA results show that at 5% significance, with the significant value of 0.001, there is no significant relationship between the Occupation Status of the Respondents and their level of Satisfaction towards the Laptop. Hence Hypothesis is Accepted.

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Chi-square Analysis A chi-squared test, also referred to as chi-square test or 2 test, is any statistical hypothesis test in which the sampling distribution of the test statistic is a chi-squared distribution when the null hypothesis is true, or any in which this is asymptotically true, meaning that the sampling distribution (if the null hypothesis is true) can be made to approximate a chi-squared distribution as closely as desired by making the sample size large enough. Degrees of Freedom In statistics, the number of degrees of freedom is the number of values in the final calculation of a statistic that are free to vary. Estimates of statistical parameters can be based upon different amounts of information or data. The number of independent pieces of information that go into the estimate of a parameter is called the degrees of freedom (df). In general, the degrees of freedom of an estimate of a parameter is equal to the number of independent scores that go into the estimate minus the number of parameters used as intermediate steps in the estimation of the parameter itself. First Group consists of Personal Factors like Occupation Status, Familys Monthly Income and Laptop Possessed. Second Group contains the study factors namely Source of Awareness like Advertisements, Friends and Relatives, Dealers and representatives etc.

149

Factors in First Group are compared with Factors in Second Group and Chi-Square Test is applied and the Result is given in the following Table with suitable interpretation. The ChiSquare Test is carried out with 5% level of Significance. In this Research Study, the ChiSquare Analysis is used to test the inter-dependence of one factor over the other. Laptop Possessed and Source of Awareness Chi-Square Test is applied in order to check the association between the Laptop possessed by the Respondents and the Source of Awareness. TABLE NO: 4.30 TABLE SHOWS THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN LAPTOP POSSESSED AND SOURCE OF AWARENESS. Source of Awareness Laptop Possessed Respondents Advertise ments In No In No In No In No In No In No 72 14 15 18 21 140 Friends & Relatives 110 61 11 36 6 224 Dealers/Rep resentatives 4 6 5 2 3 20 Others 2 3 5 4 2 16 188 84 36 60 32 400 Total

Dell Acer Lenovo HP Sony Total

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Hypothesis Ho: There is no significant association between the Laptop possessed and the Source of Awareness. TABLE NO: 4. 30(A) CHI-SQUARE TEST Degrees of Freedom 12 ChiSquare Value 1101.69 Table value 21.026 Significant/Not Significant Significant

Factors Laptop Possessed

Accept/Reject

Reject

Inference: To find out the association between the Laptop possessed and the source of awareness of the Respondents, Chi-Square Test is applied. The calculated value of ChiSquare (1101.69) is greater than the Table value (21.026) at 5% level of Significance with 12 as Degree of Freedom. The Hypothesis is Rejected. Hence there is significant association between the Laptop possessed and the Source of Awareness.

151

Association between Laptop Possessed and Respondents Occupation Status. Chi-Square Test is applied in order to check the association between the Laptop possessed by the Respondents and the Occupation Status. TABLE NO: 4.31 TABLE SHOWS THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN LAPTOP POSSESSED AND RESPONDENTS OCCUPATION STATUS Laptop Possessed Occupation Status Responde nts Dell Business Professional Salaried Students Total In No In No In No In No 3 31 124 30 188 Acer 1 15 10 58 84 Lenovo 2 10 12 12 36 HP 1 13 34 12 160 Sony 5 11 8 8 32 Total 12 80 188 120 400

152

Hypothesis Ho: There is no significant association between the Laptop possessed and the Occupation Status of the Respondents. TABLE NO: 4.31(A) CHI-SQUARE TEST Factors Laptop Possessed Degrees of Freedom 12 ChiSquare Value 1532.3 Table value 21.0261 Accept/Reject Significant/Not Significant Significant

Reject

Inference: To find out the association between the Laptop possessed and the Occupation Status of the Respondents, Chi-Square Test is applied. The calculated value of Chi-Square (1532.3) is greater than the Table value (21.0261) at 5% level of Significance with 12 as Degree of Freedom. The Null Hypothesis is Rejected Hence there is significant association between the Laptop possessed and the Occupation Status of the Respondents.

153

Association between Laptop Possessed and Respondents Monthly Income Chi-Square Test is applied in order to check the association between the Laptop possessed by the Respondents and their Monthly Income. Hypothesis Ho: There is no significant association between the Laptop possessed and the Monthly Income of the Respondents. TABLE NO: 4.32 TABLE SHOWS THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN LAPTOP POSSESSED AND RESPONDENTS MONTHLY INCOME Monthly Income Less than 10,000 10,001 20,000 20,001 30,000 Above 30,000 Total Laptop possessed Dell 3 17 27 141 188 Acer 15 33 7 29 84 Lenovo 3 9 4 20 36 HP 5 7 11 37 60 Sony 2 4 3 23 32 Total 28 70 52 250 400

Respondents

In No In No In No In No

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TABLE NO: 4. 32(A) CHI-SQUARE TEST Degrees of Freedom 12 ChiSquare Value 5075.5 Table value 21.0261 Significant/Not Significant Significant

Factors Laptop Possessed

Accept/Reject

Reject

Inference: To find out the association between the Laptop possessed and the Occupation Status of the Respondents, Chi-Square Test is applied. The calculated value of Chi-Square 5075.5 is less than the Table value 21.0261 at 5% level of Significance with 10 as Degree of Freedom. The Hypothesis is Rejected. Hence there is significant association between the Laptop possessed and the Occupation Status of the Respondents. Friedman Ranking Test The Friedman test is a non-parametric statistical test developed by the U.S. economist Milton Friedman. Similar to the parametric repeated measures ANOVA; it is used to detect differences in treatments across multiple test attempts. The procedure involves ranking each row (or block) together, then considering the values of ranks by columns. Applicable to complete block designs, it is thus a special case of the Durbin test.

155

Friedman Rank Analysis regarding the Purpose of using the Laptop Hypothesis: Ho: The Rankings of the respondents regarding the purpose for which the Laptop possessed differ from user to user. TABLE NO: 4.33 FRIEDMAN RANK ANALYSIS REGARDING THE PURPOSE OF USING THE LAPTOP Rank Purpose Value No Education Score No Business Score No Entertainment Score Inference: From the above Table it is clear that majority of the surveyed respondents preferred Laptop for Education purpose which is Ranked First followed by Business and Entertainment which is ranked Second and Third. It is clear that the Customers were influenced to purchase laptops for Education purpose. 60 256 636 164 60 312 128 240 212 952 236 164 216 156 168 80 716 1 236 2 108 3 56 620 I II III Total

156

TABLE NO: 4.33(A) TEST STATISTICS No Chi-Square Degrees of Freedom Asymp. Significance 400 -291.6 2 0.001

With the significant value of 0.001, it is clear that the ranking of the Respondents regarding the purpose for which the laptop is possessed differs at 1% level of significance. Hence Hypothesis is Accepted. Friedman Rank Analysis regarding the Factors influencing the Respondents while selecting a Laptop Hypothesis: Ho: The Rankings of the respondents regarding the factors which influence the purchase of a Laptop does not differ.

157

TABLE NO: 4.34 FRIEDMAN RANK ANALYSIS REGARDING THE FACTORS INFLUENCING THE RESPONDENTS WHILE SELECTING A LAPTOP Rank Factors Value After Sales Service Brand reputation Price Factors Easy Availability No Score No Score No Score No Score No Offers Score 8 16 48 96 1720 1 20 20 244 244 120 120 24 24 8 2 44 88 124 248 216 432 32 64 8 3 188 564 16 48 40 120 136 408 16 4 148 592 16 64 8 32 184 736 24 5 0 1264 0 0 604 0 16 784 80 24 1352 120 344 1888 I II III IV V Total

Inference: From the above Table it is clear that majority of the surveyed respondents considered Brand Reputation as the main factor, which they ranked First, while purchasing the laptop. It is clear that the Customers were influenced to purchase laptops because of the Brand reputation.

158

TABLE NO: 4.34(A) TEST STATISTICS No Chi-Square Degrees of Freedom Asymp. Significance 400 769.61 4 0.005

With the significant value of 0.005, it is clear that the ranking of the Respondents regarding the factors considered while purchasing the Laptop differs. Hence hypothesis is Rejected. Hypothesis: Ho: The Rankings of the respondents regarding the devices, which influence the purchase of a Laptop does not differ.

159

TABLE NO: 4.35 FRIEDMAN RANK ANALYSIS REGARDING THE DEVICES INFLUENCING THE RESPONDENTS WHILE SELECTING A LAPTOP Devices Rank Value No Score No Score No Score No Score No Score I 1 96 96 88 88 48 48 216 216 16 16 II 2 136 272 48 96 120 240 64 128 24 48 III 3 104 312 136 408 88 264 56 168 40 120 IV 4 40 160 112 448 120 480 48 192 56 224 V 5 24 120 16 80 24 120 16 80 264 1320 Total

RAM

960

Hard Disk

1120

Mother Board

1152

Processor

784

Touch Pad

1728

Inference: From the above Table it is clear that majority of the surveyed respondents considered Processor as the main device, which they ranked First, while purchasing the laptop, followed by RAM and Hard Disk which the Respondents ranked Second and Third It is clear that the Customers were influenced to purchase laptops because of the Processor.

TABLE NO: 4.35(A)

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TEST STATISTICS No Chi-Square Degrees of Freedom Asymp. Significance 400 -96.256 4 0.005

With the significant value of 0.005, it is clear that the ranking of the Respondents regarding the factors considered while purchasing the Laptop differs. Hence hypothesis is Accepted. Hypothesis: Ho: The Rankings of the respondents regarding the factors considered before the purchase of a Laptop differs.

161

TABLE NO: 4.36 FRIEDMAN RANK ANALYSIS REGARDING THE FACTORS CONSIDERED BY THE RESPONDENTS BEFORE PURCHASING A LAPTOP Rank Value No Score No Score No Score No Score No Score I 1 96 96 128 128 144 144 104 104 72 72 II 2 80 160 88 176 72 144 112 224 40 80 III 3 40 120 72 216 64 192 72 216 96 288 IV 4 112 448 48 192 72 288 56 224 40 160 V 5 72 360 64 320 48 240 56 280 152 760

Factors

Total

Utility

1184

Model

1032

Comfort

1008

Economy

1048

Durability

1360

Inference: From the above Table it is clear that majority of the surveyed respondents considered Comfort as the main factor, which they ranked First, while purchasing the laptop, followed by Model and Economy which the Respondents ranked Second and Third. It is clear that the Customers consider Comfort, Model and Economy while purchasing the Laptop. TABLE NO: 4.36(A)

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TEST STATISTICS No Chi-Square Degrees of Freedom Asymp. Significance 400 -769.15 4 0.005

With the significant value of 0.005, it is clear that the ranking of the Respondents regarding the factors considered while purchasing the Laptop differs. Hence hypothesis is Accepted.

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CHAPTER 6 FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

6.1

FINDINGS From the study conducted on the Customers Attitude and Satisfaction towards branded Laptops in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, below mentioned are the Researchers Findings. 1. 2. Majority of the Respondents [53%] who responded to the survey are Male. From the study conducted among various levels of people, majority [80%] falls under the age group 20 30 years. 3. 4. Majority of the respondents [75%] are not married. From the research it is quite evident that majority [65%] of the respondents are highly qualified with a Post Graduate degree. Many of them were professionals as well. 5. From the study, it was observed that majority [47%] of the respondents are Salaried Employees. 6. While the income of the respondents are considered, it was found that majority [60%] of the respondents are earning a minimum monthly income of 30,000 and above. 7. As per the survey, maximum customers preferred [47%] the brand Dell, as Dell is more customer specific. 8. Majority [56%] of the respondents rely on their friends and relatives in matters of

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pre purchase information gathering. The majority gave preference to the Brand which their friends and relatives recommended. 9. In the changing scenario of advanced Science and Technology, majority [59%] of the respondents was found possessing Laptop primarily for the purpose of Education. 10. With the increasing number of players in the mobile computer market, it was observed that, majority [61%] of the respondents give first preference to Brand reputation while purchasing a Laptop. Majority is not ready to take risk opting nonbranded Laptops. 11. With the market flooding with technically competent customers, it was observed that people are very choosy while making investments. Majority [54%] of the respondents gave first preference to the Processor while purchasing a Laptop. 12. Majority [72%] of the respondents gave first preference to Economic viability while purchasing a Laptop. Customers prefer good quality products, which are feasible to their pockets while purchasing electronic gadgets. 13. It was observed that majority [36%] of the Respondents spent in-between 25,000 to 30,000 to purchase the Laptop, which falls in a medium range category in the aspect of quality also. 14. To minimise the risk of fake or duplicate components and future complications, majority [42%] of the Respondents purchased the Laptop from authorised Dealers, availing maximum benefits in matters of quality and guarantee. 15. Inpite of many number of players in the market and freedom to choose the brand as per unique requirements, majority [88%] of the respondents feel that the price of

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the Laptop is high. 83% of the Respondents made Cash Purchase and 17% made Credit Purchase. 16. In the light of high price of the Laptops and the difficulty to pay from own pocket. majority [53%] of the respondents arranged payment through Bank loansof the respondents arranged payment through Bank Loans. 17. As the majority preferred to buy the Laptop from authorised dealers, majority [74%] of the Rsponents received 1 2 Years warranty from the Service provider. 18. As a result of a sudden awareness in the market regarding the benefits of possessing of Laptop, majority [36%] of the respondents purchased the Laptop before 2 years, 19. Majority of the respondents [79%] never faced any problems with the Laptop as maximum preference was given to best brands and was bought from authorised dealers. 20. Among the respondents who faced problems, majority [50%] of the Respondents faced problems with the Display of the Laptop. 21. Among the respondents who faced problems with the Laptop, 73%, which is the majority, received prompt service from the Service Provider. 22. Among the respondents who didnt get prompt service, majority [51%], received service in less than a week. 23. Majority of the Respondents are satisfied with various factors related to the Laptop like Price, Quality, Repairs, Availibilty, Durability and After Sales Service. 24. 91% of the Respondents, which is the majority, use Single Operating System for their Laptops as they feel it very convenient without confusions and complications. 25. The Respondents who use Sony Laptop feel that the prices are quite high, beyond the affordable limits of the Common Man.

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26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

Many Respondents are not satisfied with the Battery Back up of Sony Laptops. Many Respondents feel that the Touch Pad doesnt respond properly. Few Respondents commented that the Sound Effect of the Laptop is not good. Many Respondents are not satisfied with the After Sales Service provided. Many of the Respondents feel the Price of the Laptop, for the features offered is high.

31. 32.

Many Respondents expect some offers when they buy the Laptop. Many Respondents feel unsatisfied with the Display of the Laptop, as they faced many problems with the same.

33.

Few Respondents requested addition of some games in the Laptop.

Findings from ANOVA Test 34. There is significant relationship between the Age Group of the Respondents and their level of Satisfaction towards the Laptop. 35. There is significant relationship between the Educational Qualification of the Respondents and their level of Satisfaction towards the Laptop. 36. There is significant relationship between the Occupation Status of the Respondents and their level of Satisfaction towards the Laptop. 37. There is no significant relationship between the Occupation Status of the Respondents and their level of Satisfaction towards the Laptop. Findings from Chi-square Test 38. There is significant association between the Laptop possessed and the Source of Awareness.

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39.

There is significant association between the Laptop possessed and the Occupation Status of the Respondents.

40.

There is significant association between the Laptop possessed and the Occupation Status of the Respondents.

Findings from Friedman test 41. it is clear that majority of the surveyed respondents preferred Laptop for Education purpose which is Ranked First followed by Business and Entertainment which is ranked Second and Third. 42. It is clear that majority of the surveyed respondents considered Brand Reputation as the main factor, which they ranked First, while purchasing the laptop. It is clear that the Customers were influenced to purchase laptops because of the Brand reputation. 43. It is clear that majority of the surveyed respondents considered Processor as the main device, which they ranked First, while purchasing the laptop, followed by RAM and Hard Disk which the Respondents ranked Second and Third. 44. It is clear that majority of the surveyed respondents considered Comfort as the main factor, which they ranked First, while purchasing the laptop, followed by Model and Economy which the Respondents ranked Second and Third. 6.2 1. SUGGESTIONS

If the Prices of Sony Laptops are reduced or if the Company manufactures Laptops which common man can afford, there will be huge requirement for the Laptop.

2.

The Battery backup of the Sony Laptops should be given more consideration and it should be improved.

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3.

More concentration should be given on the sensitiveness of Touch Pad, as its one of the most vital parts of the Laptop.

4.

Sound System and Clarity of the Laptop should be enhanced for higher levels of satisfaction.

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

After Sales Service should be prompt to make the customers feel satisfied. The Price of all Brands of Laptops should be reasonable and affordable. Some seasonal offers can be given to enhance the sales of the Laptop. The Durability and Quality of the Display should be improved. Some games can be added to the laptops, which are customer specific. All major Brands can concentrate more on sales promotion through advertisements, as ads related to laptops are very rare except in the case of Sony.

11.

The respondents who fall in the category of students expect their Laptops to be more attractive.

12. 6.3

Majority of the customers expect their Laptops to be user specific. CONCLUSION The number of people who are using and owning Personal Computers substantially

increases all over the world. Contrary to the introduction years of computers, today they have been used by almost all age groups, and by both males and females, and the gap between age groups and the gap between males and females with respect to computer usage decreases. Furthermore, consumers desire for portable and attractively designed PCs forces the companies to produce laptops/notebooks. In addition, extended battery life, price cuts, prevalence of home-offices, and integrated wireless networking also cause to the increased sales of laptops. On the supply side of the market, the companies try to make

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profit and even survive in a highly competitive environment. Furthermore, the rapid development in technology, particularly in nano-technology, leads companies to make huge amounts of investments in Research and Development. Moreover, the acquisitions and mergers in the sector and new players in the market also influence the companies operating in IT industry. In such a volatile industry, it becomes extremely important to learn the factors that are influencing consumers purchase decisions, customer attitudes towards Laptops and the factors, which leads to their satisfaction. In this study, it has been found that there are seven factors, which influence consumers laptop purchase decisions. These factors can be stated as follows: core technical features, post purchase services, price and payment conditions, peripheral specifications, physical appearance, value added features, and connectivity and mobility. Consumers prefer to stay connected to Internet or mobile phone, sending pictures and documents to printer, and etc. However, since all consumer groups find core technical features and post purchase services extremely important, these features should be emphasized in advertisements. It has to be also noted that post purchase services factor is tremendously important since it is directly related with customers brand loyalty. This study recommends companies to invest in technology through Research and Development and create differentiation at utmost level. This research has been limited to laptop/notebook sector and the factors influencing consumers purchase decisions, attitude and satisfaction in this market, since sectoral differences play a vital role, it is beneficial if similar kind of study is taken up in different sectors.

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