Flipkart had a low-key tablet — Digiflip Pro XT712 – launch on Thursday in Delhi. The successful Indian e-commerce channel is following Amazon, global e-commerce giant which launched Fire smartphone with much innovation.
With the launch of Digiflip Pro tablet, Flipkart, which has 18 million registered users, 3.5 million daily visits and makes 5 million shipments per month, is trying to strengthen the company a strong trading house with its own brand.
Tablet without innovation
Digiflip Pro XT712 does not have any innovation as compared with Amazon’s Fire that is priced at $649 in the U.S. The 7” Digiflip Pro XT712 tablet features 1280 x 800p HD resolution with IPS display, 1.3GHz Quad Core Cortex A7 processor, 1GB DDR3 RAM, dual SIM 3G calling, etc. One telecom journalist said tablets cannot have much innovation and Flipkart is not Apple, the maker of iPhones and iPads.
Also read: Amazon adds $649 priced smartphone Fire to fuel shopping
The tablet, which will compete with Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Micromax, Karbonn, etc. in both reach and price points, will create more demands in the tablet market, said company officials.
Amazon tablet share dips
The 19-year old Amazon, though it has the support of the largest e-commerce channel, is not doing well in the global tablet market.
IDC Q1 2014 global tablet tracker said Apple share dropped share to 32.5 percent from 40.2 percent in Q1 2013, Samsung rose market share to 22.3 percent from 17.5 percent, Asus dipped to 5 percent from 5.4 percent, Lenovo grew to 4.1 from 1.3 percent and Amazon fell to 1.9 percent from 3.7 percent.
Tablet market share Q1 2014: Samsung, Lenovo up, Apple, Asus, Amazon drop
While Amazon Fire smartphone is designed to boost sales and sales experience to Amazon customers with technology innovation, Flipkart’s Digiflip Pro XT712 will boost its overall sales. Flipkart will use its data bank and customer behavior to boost sales.
Flipkart to play in budget tablet market
The 7-year old Flipkart that offers over 15 million products cross 70+ categories will play in the budget tablet market with Digiflip Pro XT712.
Priced at Rs 9999, the tablet comes with shopping benefits worth over Rs 5,000 and free eBooks worth over Rs 2,000 from Flipkart. This means, the effective price of the XT712 tablet will be around 3,000. It comes with a tablet case. It is not free to users.
Though it is targeting both youth and professionals, the tablet is available only in both black and white variants. The tablet covers are colorful and customers will have enough choice.
Also read: Amazon smartphone to transform device market?
During the Moto G launch in India – through Flipkart, the main question faced by Motorola Mobility was about its after sales network. Flipkart will be offering a network of over 120 service centers in 100+ cities to handle its tablet queries.
Ready for after sales
Michael Adnani, VP – Retail & Head – Brand Alliances, Flipkart, said: “With one of the largest user bases in the country, we have access to unparalleled data that allows us to predict what kind of products and services will work well in the market.”
Customers in 13 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad can avail of priority 24-hour service by visiting any of the 22 priority centers as well.
Flipkart is offering cash on delivery and a 30 day replacement policy.
Any takers for Amazon Fire
Insights, powered by Bizrate, a division of Shopzilla’s new Connexity, has surveyed over 4,000 online buyers and found that among those who are not solely Amazon online buyers, there is very little definitive interest in buying its newly introduced Fire smartphone.
About 10 percent of consumers think it may be worth investigating – fueled by the phone features that are more common (phone performance, camera, etc). However, the lion’s share of online buyers does not feel moved enough by this new product to push them to get a new phone.
Baburajan K