NEW DELHI, INDIA: A "$35" computer launched last year in India as the world's cheapest tablet has run into problems and companies will be invited to bid again to make the device after complaints of poor performance and hiccups rolling out a pilot model.

The government has hailed the Aakash tablet as an achievement of Indian frugal engineering that would end the digital divide in a country where only one in every 10 of its 1.2 billion people use the Internet.

Also read: Upgraded "Aakash" tablet to cost Rs 2450: Sibal

Products such as Apple Inc's iPad are beyond the reach even of many in the fast-growing middle class. The locally assembled machine has a cost price of around $50 and was to be sold to students by the government for $35.

But only 10,000 units have been shipped since October. The relationship between the device's manufacturer, DataWind, and a government research institute soured amid complaints by test users that the processor was too slow, the battery life short and the resistive touch screen hard to use.

Also read: Aakash tablet booking crosses 20 lakh

The government's Human Resource Development Ministry is due to launch a new tender in the next few weeks to seek partners to build the tablet - a process that could see DataWind dropped.

"It is not automatic that because you have done phase one you will do phase two," said a senior official at the ministry with direct knowledge of the project.

Datawind won a contract last year to make 100,000 units for the government and it was thought likely it would make the additional 1 million units called for in the second phase of production. But it had lost its first-mover advantage and would face renewed competition for the contract, the official said.