After mobile handsets, a price war is now brewing in the tablet PC segment, with various companies lining up to launch their own version at prices as low as $99 (Rs 4,455 approximately).
Beetel, a Bharti Group company, today announced its tablet PC at a price of Rs 9,999. This comes a week after Reliance Communications launched a tablet PC priced at Rs 12,999.
Apart from big boys such as Apple, Samsung, BlackBerry and HTC, there is a flurry of devices being planned by domestic handset manufacturers such as Lava, GFive and Karbonn, among others. Firms such as Spice and Olive have already launched tablet PCs at prices competitive with Apple’s iPad.
Consumers have a wide variety to choose from at various price points. Samsung tablets have been priced at Rs 36,200 and Rs 33,990 (for Tab 750 and Tab 730, respectively) while Apple’s iPad is available around Rs 34,500.
The cheapest tablet will be officially launched on August 19 by LACS, a division of the Devraj Group of Companies, Bangalore, at $99.
Beetel Teletech executive director and CEO Vinod Sawhny said, “The product has been designed keeping in mind the needs of Indian customers. The tablet is not only about affordability but also about aspirational features, which were earlier available in high-end devices”.
The Indian tablet PC market is expected to be around one million units in the current financial year. Earlier, Dell had introduced its tablet, Streak, at a price of Rs 34,000 and HTC had introduced Flyer at Rs 39,890. Blackberry’s Playbook is available in the price range of Rs 27,990-37,990, depending on the memory.