What's in a brand? Local tablet PCs flood market

BANGALORE, INDIA: Call it a tablet revolution. The homegrown tablet PCs are on the rise and it's evident in the number of devices invading the consumer electronics market. Accompanying the number game is a fierce competition among companies to roll out products that are low in cost and rich in features. 

Eversince the Apple Inc. launched its revolutionary iPad in US during 2010, it has been  closely followed by rival international brands like Samsung, BlackBerry and RIM. 

But silently following these big names are the lesser known Indian companies that are seeking to thrive on the Android platform.

But Olive Telecommunication, the first Indian company to launch a tablet announced the release of Olivepad in July 2010, much before Apple's iPad arrived in India in January 2011.

Just before the last new year bash, Bangalore-based Notion Ink rocked the tech enthusiasts by releasing information on Adam tablet in December, 2010.

The 10-inch Adam tablet, based on Android device, priced between Rs 19,000 - Rs 27,000 has received mixed reviews. According to its founder Rohan Shravan there would be an Ice Cream Sandwich update in November after the Google's launch in late October.

Another Bangalore-based technology company, EAFA Technologies, launched its tablet 'Marathon' in July this year. The gadget boasts of features that aren't available in Apple's iPad 2 or Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Even bigger names such are Reliance Communications, HCL and Beetel have also joined the tablet bandwagon.

The Indian brand tablet devices which rely heavily on open source Android platform are attractively priced from just Rs 13,000.

Says Kaushik Pillalamarri, Sr. VP, Data & Devices, Reliance Communications: "We are not looking at making money on the Reliance 3G Tab. We are focused on getting customers to experience and use our superior 3G network. To drive revenues in 3G the device ecosystems needs to be built."

Analysts expect worldwide tablet PC sales to reach 40-50 million units in 2011, with the iPad dominating the market.

Research firm IDC has said tablet shipments could grow by an average 57.4 per cent per year in 2010-2014, reflecting the sector's huge growth potential.

Gartner principal research analyst Vishal Tripathi, however, feels the lesser known brand names have few chances to thrive in the tablet market.

"There are many tablet devices launched under local brand names using the Android platform. But none of them has been able to penetrate deeper. They are not attractively priced to compete with the bigger brand names like Apple or Samsung. These factors may have negative impact in the market."

According to Anirban Banerjee, associate vice president, Research and advisory services, CyberMedia Research, the Indian media tablets market has many more models available with a range of features and at a variety of price points, compared to six months ago.

However, for a tablet to become a common man’s device, usage tariffs for high speed data services need to be brought down even further along with useful and relevant content for the Indian consumer," Anirban added.

Naveen Mishra, lead analyst, Telecommunications Practice, CyberMedia Research, says:  "Further proliferation of 3G networks and launch of BWA (4G / WiMax / LTE) services will lead to new types of data services being demanded and consumed by mobile subscribers. This trend is expected to contribute to a rise in shipments of media tablets in the India market in 2011 to touch 2,75,000 units. At that point, the total number of vendors is expected to touch 35 with 90 models on offer.

"The launch of low-cost tablets bundled with affordable data services on 3G and BWA networks can be expected to give a further boost to Indian tablet shipments in 2012 and beyond," Naveen concluded.