INDIA’S communications giant Bharti Enterprises said on Thursday (August 18) it had launched a $220 (£133.36) tablet computer as a domestic rival to Apple’s iPad.
Bharti’s Magiq tablet is the newest offering to be unveiled as the so-called “tablet war” heats up in the nascent market where manufacturers are seeking to tap what they hope will be strong demand in the country of 1.2 billion people.
Beetel Teletech, the phone-equipment arm of Bharti Enterprises, whose stable also includes Bharti Airtel, India’s largest mobile phone company by users, called the Rs9,999 ($220) seven-inch (18-centimetre) tablet a “ground-breaking product”.
“Our tablet is about affordability,” Beetel Teletech chief Vinod Sawhny said in an emailed statement.The tablet uses Google’s Android 2.2 software, has an 8 GB memory expandable to 16 GB, WiFi, long battery life, a radio and front-and-rear two-megapixel camera.
The device’s launch came a week after India’s second-biggest mobile company, Reliance Communications, announced a $290 (£175.76) 7-inch Android tablet.Other companies have also announced tablets with the cheapest expected to be launched later this month by LACS, a division of the Devraj Group of Companies, at just $99 (£60.00).
The prices offered by Indian firms are significantly below the costs of high-end tablets like Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab in India.Apple’s iPad 2 in India starts at around $499 (£302.43) while Research In Motion sells its seven-inch PlayBook in India for over $600 (£363.61).
Samsung Electronics has announced a 10.1-inch tablet for around $800 (£484.81) and an 8.9-inch tablet for $750 (£4454.49) in India.Indian tablet makers are hoping consumers will leapfrog to cheaper tablets, avoiding costlier computers as they did when they bought mobile phones instead of waiting for land lines.
