LOW COST TABLETS
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT PRICE
Low-cost
Tabs No Match Yet for iPad, Galaxy
When little-known tablet maker Zync Global started selling its first 7-inch device in November last year, director Anuj Garg realized his big customers were not in the metros but in smaller towns and cities. And he faced some peculiar problems. “We would get calls for even the most basic inquiries, for instance, ‘how do you switch it on?’,” he says.
While the Delhi-based company claims to have sold about 100,000 tablets, mostly in the sub-. 5,000 segment, Garg admits that low-cost tablets are not exactly flying off shelves. Multiple research agencies tracking the Indian tablet market say Samsung, Apple and BlackBerry hold anywhere between 80% and 90% of the Indian market, even though it’s raining low-cost tablets with a new device entering the market every second day, at least for the last couple of weeks.
So far, Indian challengers such as HCL, Beetel, OliveTab, Aakash, Acer, Reliance Communications and BSNL have not been able to make a significant mark in the tablet market, despite prices starting as low as . 3,000. Analysts blame it on poor quality of products, lack of free public wi-fi hotspots, low uptake of 3G connections and little clutter-breaking differentiations. Also, the worldwide craze for tablets has yet to reflect in India. “One of the big challenges which tablets are facing (in India) is the uncertainty in consumers’ mind about the usage of these devices,” says Vishal Tripathi, principal analyst at Gartner India.
Voice & Data estimates that about 800,000 tablets, worth . 1,962 crore, were sold in India in 2011-12. This was a huge 749% jump year-on-year, but just a fraction of the 65 million tablets sold globally.
BEETEL EXITS
Urban consumers, who buy tablet as an additional fun device to support smartphone and laptop, have mostly preferred iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab because of their superior product quality, user interface and evergrowing bank of apps. Black-Berry maker Research In Motion has amassed about onetenth of the tablet market largely due to massive cuts in the retail price of its PlayBook.
As a result, many local challengers have been struggling to stay in the game.
Beetel Teletech, which launched Magiq brand of tablets with much fanfare in September last for . 9,999, has stopped making tablets.
Executives privy to the developments say the Bharti Enterprises’ company had changed its strategy and would only focus on offering products for the enterprise market in the future. But some say that the advent of tablets priced much lower than Beetel’s instigated the company to move away from tablets. Beetel did not respond to ET’s query asking the reasons for this decision.
HUGE POTENTIAL
So, why are Indian companies-—from handset makers Micromax, Karbonn Mobiles, Zen Mobiles and Wishtel to peripheral-makers Go Tech Digital and Alphabetics Computer Services—still rushing to the tablet market?
Because of its huge potential. Frost & Sullivan expects the Indian tablet market to 23.38 million units by 2017, with sales doubling every year starting 2011. Even a conservative projection by ABI Research pegs the tablet market at 9.66 m units by 2017. Experts expect low-cost utility-based devices driving much of this growth as demand from rural areas and small towns picks up with improved broadband and Internet connectivity. “Tablets could be the first computing and Internet access experience for the rural areas and that’s where low-cost tablets will find a massive market,” a senior executive of a multinational smartphone maker says. To succeed, however, local players will need to focus on applications, technology and built, say analysts. Price card alone cannot win the game.
“There has been an increased uptake of tablets in the education segment due bundled and innovative content, which some of the tablet providers are offering,” Gartner’s Tripathi says. “Uptake of utility based tablets in school will definitely help the growth in consumer adoption in time to come,” he says. Many tablet makers have identified that content is king and are bundling relevant educational, health and other content in their tablets (see graphic).
Tablet of Content
Domestic tablet-makers bet on pricing, content to challenge dominance of Apple and Samsung in the Indian market
Micromax FunBook
6,499
USP: Has tied up with content developers Pearson, Everonn and Vriti to offer school curriculum and preparatory courses for competitive examinations
Zync Global 3G tab
11,990 USP: Voice calling
Go Tech Funtab
3,999onwards
USP: Pre-loaded with an app to contact ambulances and nearby pharmacies; has tied up with Max and is talking to Vedanta & Apollo
RCom 3G tablet
14,499 USP: Free 3 GB data usage, video calling for 3 months, voice rental and McAfee mobile security subscription for a year
Alphabetics Computer Services TabGuru
9,999(7 inch), 14,999(10 inch) USP: Offline education content
HCL MyEduTab
9,999onwards USP: Helping tablet owners move to result-oriented usage such as getting tests and assessments done online
GULVEEN
AULAKH ET120724
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