Patna, Oct. 23: When Steve Jobs came to India in his early years in search of spirituality, he might not have exactly thought of Goddess Lakshmi, but his inventions have certainly pleased the deity and her disciples this Diwali.

Apple products are in demand in the state capital and so are several gaming devices, known to be a rage in metropolitan markets till now. This year, a number of customers, particularly youngsters, are splurging on gaming products and Tablets like the Apple iPad. This demand is a major shift from the earlier trend of purchasing vehicles, jewellery and home electronic appliances during Diwali.

“The market for gaming devices, including Sony PlayStation, Xbox and Dell Alienware, is small but it is growing at a significant rate. Earlier, we used to sell eight to 10 such devices in a year. Now, we are selling the same number just during the Dhanteras and Diwali season. In the past one week, our agency has received bookings for five gaming laptops. The buyers in this niche segment mainly comprise youngsters from well-to-do families, working professionals and executives,” said Ajay Kumar of Global Systems.

He added: “Dell Alienware, which is a workstation or gaming laptop, is selling like hot cakes. It is mostly preferred by students from affluent families and professionals working in the field of architecture and animation. Each unit of Alienware costs around Rs 1 lakh. Sony PlayStation, on the other hand, is bought by youngsters from well-to-do families. We deal with Sony PlayStation portable only, which costs between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000.”

Saurabh Banka (25), a young businessman of the city, recently bought a Sony PlayStation 3. “I am a hardcore gamer. Earlier, I used to play computer games but this gaming device is like godsend for me. I have bought the latest version of the Sony PlayStation. I have connected it with the television set in my shop and I just can’t stop playing games whenever I am free. It is simply amazing,” said Banka.

Gaming gadgets apart, the market for Tablets in the city is equally booming.

“There has been a significant rise in the sale of iPad in the state capital. At present, most buyers are demanding the iPad 2. There are a number of variants of the iPad 2 on the basis of memory capacity — 16, 32 and 64GB — and in terms of connectivity — Wifi connectivity enabled and Wifi+3G enabled Tablets. These iPads are mostly sought by youngsters or buyers whose relatives are settled in foreign countries,” said a senior sales executive of Krishna Agency.

R.P. Jha, a resident of Ashiana Nagar, recently bought an iPad 2.

“This Tablet has a programme called Facetime, which when activated, allows two people with iPad 2 to video chat with each other. Moreover, the iPad 2 also has a dual camera — one in front and another on the rear. “If I am video chatting with my son in Bangalore and my wife is sitting in front of me, my son can see both of us if I switch on both the cameras. These gadgets are really helpful for families like ours whose relatives stay in different cities or even different countries,” said Jha.