According to my confidential sources, HP is preparing for an India-specific launch very soon. The source tells me that the product in question is going to be budget-focused. In collaboration with NVIDIA, the brand is set to launch a new line of Victus gaming laptops designed specifically for college students. These laptops will feature the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050, which uses Nvidia’s Lovelace Architecture, providing top-notch graphics performance for both academic and gaming needs.
Exclusively available in India, this launch underscores HP’s commitment to the Indian market and its unique requirements. As of the first quarter of 2024, ASUS and Lenovo hold significant shares in the Indian computer market. Lenovo stands fourth with a market share of 15.1%, experiencing a slight decline of 1.3% year-over-year. It is particularly strong in the consumer segment with a 13.5% share and ranks second in the small and medium business (SMB) segment with a 22% share.
ASUS, on the other hand, holds a 5.9% share of the Indian PC market. It has a notable presence in the consumer notebook category, where it stands second with a 16.5% share.
The new Victus laptops promise a blend of performance, affordability, and style, making them ideal for students who need a powerful yet versatile machine. This initiative is expected to be a significant addition to the Indian gaming laptop market. Currently, in the budget segment, the Lenovo LOQ, ASUS TUF Gaming, and ACER’s latest ALG series are being sold in the Indian market.
With the HP Special Edition Victus series, the brand aims to attract a student audience, particularly those who are gamers, studying data, or preparing to be analysts. HP already sells an RTX 3050-powered Victus for around Rs 58,000. It features an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Meanwhile, the most affordable laptop in the HP Victus series comes with an all-AMD setup, featuring an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H APU and a Radeon RX 6500M GPU.
I have no concrete information on the price of these laptops but expect them to be more affordable than what HP currently sells under its “budget” moniker. Since these laptops will be special edition units and not a new model, the current design language is more likely to continue.