Sales bookings for the world’s cheapest tablet Aakash have soared to 14 lakh units just 14 days after the tablet was put up for sale online for Rs 2,500 per piece.
To cater to the demand, Datawind the maker of the $ 35 tablet, has decided to set up 3 new factories in Kochi, Noida & Hyderabad in the first half of 2012 to assemble the tablet.
UK-based vendor Datawind currently has only one factory in Hyderabad, with its vendor Quad, which makes the LCD panel for the tablet.
Mr. Tuli (Where he was invited to advise its government on its low-cost computing project) said “We never expected such a high response from both corporate and individual buyers. We plan to supply 70,000-75,000 tablets per day once the factories are in place by April. Two weeks ago, we received a call from India’s computer emergency response team, that our website was probably suffering from a large cyber attack. We had to inform them we had just opened sale through our website.
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Datawind, which put out a limited 30,000 tablets for sale online with e-commerce provider Ncarry.com, has already exhausted the first lot.
One of the spokesman for Ncarry.com, said,'' The website is catering to orders across India, with delivery in 5-7 working days. Ncarry is a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Nimbuzz, which makes instant messaging applications. The Nimbuzz IM comes preinstalled on Aakash".
Pre-sales bookings for the Aakash tablet (4 lakh in October, 2011) had surpassed the Indian tablet market which was grossed about 2.5 lakh tablets till last year.
The Aakash, even though restricted with its resistive touch and slow processor, has received about one lakh orders a day, since online launch last month. In comparison, Apple sold about 10 lakh iPads in just 28 days of its launch in April 2010. Apple sold 30 lakh iPads in 80 days of its launch. Currently, the cheapest model of iPad at Rs 29,500, is about 12 times costlier than the Aakash.
Aakash’s maker Datawind is though strangulated with supply constraints, compared to Apple which managed smooth deliveries of the iPad.
Mr. Tuli also said, “We are not accepting cash for bookings currently, as we want to sort out supply issues.”
Datawind plans to put on sale online the next version of Aakash – Ubislate 7, which will priced at Rs 2,999, by mid January, 2012.
The newer version will come with a slot for insertion of a SIM card, for access of internet by GPRS or 2G connection. The current version of the tablet can access internet via WiFi access. Besides, the newer version will be twice as fast with a 700 Mhz processor compared to a 366 Mhz processor in the current tablet.
In another development, the government has extended the letter of credit to Datawind to supply the next lot of 90,000 tablets, even though IIT Rajasthan is yet to provide the test specifications for the next version of the tablet, which it wants to procure for supply to students.
The delay from the government’s end is likely to land Aakash in the hands of commercial buyers before students for whom the low-cost tablet was meant for in the first place.
Src: ET
To cater to the demand, Datawind the maker of the $ 35 tablet, has decided to set up 3 new factories in Kochi, Noida & Hyderabad in the first half of 2012 to assemble the tablet.
UK-based vendor Datawind currently has only one factory in Hyderabad, with its vendor Quad, which makes the LCD panel for the tablet.
Mr. Tuli (Where he was invited to advise its government on its low-cost computing project) said “We never expected such a high response from both corporate and individual buyers. We plan to supply 70,000-75,000 tablets per day once the factories are in place by April. Two weeks ago, we received a call from India’s computer emergency response team, that our website was probably suffering from a large cyber attack. We had to inform them we had just opened sale through our website.
.
Datawind, which put out a limited 30,000 tablets for sale online with e-commerce provider Ncarry.com, has already exhausted the first lot.
One of the spokesman for Ncarry.com, said,'' The website is catering to orders across India, with delivery in 5-7 working days. Ncarry is a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Nimbuzz, which makes instant messaging applications. The Nimbuzz IM comes preinstalled on Aakash".
Pre-sales bookings for the Aakash tablet (4 lakh in October, 2011) had surpassed the Indian tablet market which was grossed about 2.5 lakh tablets till last year.
The Aakash, even though restricted with its resistive touch and slow processor, has received about one lakh orders a day, since online launch last month. In comparison, Apple sold about 10 lakh iPads in just 28 days of its launch in April 2010. Apple sold 30 lakh iPads in 80 days of its launch. Currently, the cheapest model of iPad at Rs 29,500, is about 12 times costlier than the Aakash.
Aakash’s maker Datawind is though strangulated with supply constraints, compared to Apple which managed smooth deliveries of the iPad.
Mr. Tuli also said, “We are not accepting cash for bookings currently, as we want to sort out supply issues.”
Datawind plans to put on sale online the next version of Aakash – Ubislate 7, which will priced at Rs 2,999, by mid January, 2012.
The newer version will come with a slot for insertion of a SIM card, for access of internet by GPRS or 2G connection. The current version of the tablet can access internet via WiFi access. Besides, the newer version will be twice as fast with a 700 Mhz processor compared to a 366 Mhz processor in the current tablet.
In another development, the government has extended the letter of credit to Datawind to supply the next lot of 90,000 tablets, even though IIT Rajasthan is yet to provide the test specifications for the next version of the tablet, which it wants to procure for supply to students.
The delay from the government’s end is likely to land Aakash in the hands of commercial buyers before students for whom the low-cost tablet was meant for in the first place.
Src: ET
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