LONDON: Tesco, the world’s third-biggest retailer, has entered Britain’s intensely competitive tablet market with a low-priced own-brand product that it hopes will boost online shopping and drive sales of its digital entertainment content.
The British firm said yesterday its “Hudl” device, which has a seven-inch screen, runs Google’s Android operating system and has 16 gigabytes of storage, would be priced at ¤119 ($190), taking on a market dominated by Apple, Samsung and Amazon.
Tesco is attempting to revive its fortunes in its home market after losing share to rivals but has suffered a series of setbacks to its reputation this year, including the discovery across Europe of horsemeat in products labelled as beef. In June the firm posted a drop in quarterly underlying sales in Britain, resuming a trend seen for most of the past three years and raising doubts about its 1 billion pound turnaround plan.
“It’s a reflection of the way Tesco is changing and also a reflection of the way the world around us is changing,” Chief Executive Phil Clarke told reporters at the Hudl launch.
Though a quarter of Britain’s households own a tablet computer, Clarke said Tesco had identified a gap in the market because many shoppers were put off by the expense and by intimidating technology.
“Tesco in the UK reaches 20 million customers a week, many of whom have not previously considered buying a tablet ... So we are uniquely positioned to open up the tablet market,” he said.
The Hudl device has quick access to Tesco’s online shopping and banking sites, as well as its blinkbox movies and TV on demand service, Clubcard TV, music streaming and e-book services.
If Tesco customers utilise a scheme that doubles the value of their Clubcard loyalty vouchers they can effectively buy the Hudl for £60.
Reuters
