It seems unwise to gate-check a bag with a laptop anyway, given the way the luggage handlers throw bags around. Gate-checking a roller board suitcase with clothing is one thing, but I wouldn't check anything fragile or particularly expensive.
A laptop packed properly in a hard bag full of clothes isn't very likely to take any hit, though. If the baggage handlers run over it by a truck, then it may be damaged, but not in plane.
The business model is obvious, and has been tried at least once: http://qz.com/309185/this-startup-wants-to-pay-you-to-fly-wi...
A typical case is that we have software in development, I'm about to demonstrate it to a customer tomorrow, and before I leave for the trip, I'm making the final build and tweaking of demonstration data set at office and installing in the laptop that I use as a demo server.
By the time I'm ready, the DHL shipments for the day have gone and if I ship it, it would be there one day after my demo. So it has to be in my luggage.
Yes, checked-in luggage may also be lost and delayed, but with direct flights, I'll be fine as long as I'm not going to CDG (Paris).
(And considering the amount of carry-on luggage that people routinely bring in Chinese domestic flights, this is not surprising; there's a limit to what the overhead lockers can take, not to mention that pathetic slot where your feet should be.)