“Originally derided as a pricey niche product for geeks, tablet computers have become so common that supermarkets are now selling their own brands, pushing out low-cost rivals,” Leila Abboud and Paul Sandle report for Reuters. “The shifting nature of the market underscores how millions of people are choosing simpler devices to surf the web, send emails and shop, putting pressure on traditional PC companies.”
“And since Apple pioneered the tablet in early 2010, the gadgets now available at the lower end of the market are becoming commodity items that non-technology companies can order from Asian contractors using common components,” Abboud and Sandle report. “Tesco in Britain and Walmart in the United States, are selling their own branded tablets pitched at customers unwilling to pay $400 or more for an Apple or Samsung product.”
“Grocers like Tesco and France’s Carrefour are not only trying to cash in on booming tablet sales, but also to nudge people to buy everything from films to groceries from their online stores, pushed through their devices,” Abboud and Sandle report. “Traditional computer makers including Asus, Acer, HP, Lenovo, Dell, Sony, LG will continue to be squeezed, said Gartner analyst Tracy Tsai.”
“Carrefour is also selling smartphones and a smartwatch starting at 149 euros, in addition to four tablets, while a Pakistani bakery chain called Gourmet poached a former Samsung executive to help it sell smartphones starting at $15,” Abboud and Sandle report. “Tesco shifted more than 400,000 of its Hudl tablets, priced at 119 pounds ($200) in little over three months after a September launch.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The difference between a junky video-consuming supermarket tablet and an Apple iPad are stark. The high quality customers that Apple wants can easily make the distinction. The junk consumers can have their junk.
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