Sunseet Singh of Datawind Introduces A Winning Tablet Aimed at the Cost-Conscious World
Ubislate a winning tablet for just $38
Raju Mudhar
http://www.thestar.com/life/technology/2014/01/08/ubislate_a_winning_tablet_for_just_38.html
With all the news out of CES this week focused on the biggest and brightest innovations in technology (4K cameras! Bendable screens!), it’s refreshing to see a Canadian-based company touting a product whose only wow factor is an exceptionally low price.
Datawind, based in Mississauga with research and development operations in Montreal, has created three tablets that start at $38 and top out at $120, aimed at an audience they say has been forgotten by the world’s biggest electronics manufacturers.
Initially created as part of a tender brought forth by the Indian government, the company launched its products in North America and the U.K. in late December, with hopes of targeting cost-conscious consumers who up until now have been priced out of the tablet revolution.
Datawind’s CEO Suneet Singh Tuli is currently at CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas showing off his company’s wares, but sat down with the Star in late December showcasing the product line. The real attention getter is the Ubislate 7Ci, which sounds too good to be true at a retail price of $37.99. It’s available now, plus a $10 shipping fee, from Ubislate.ca.
When Tuli talks, it’s in very different terms from most technology executives, addressing the digital divide between rich and poor.
“We are trying to create technology for what is the biggest unaddressed market. Today, if you look at this globally, there are 5 billion people that use mobile phones and 2 billion that really use the Internet — that 3-billion-person gap is who we want to go after,” he says.
“We looked at what keeps them off the Internet and it is affordability, it is cost. So we had to figure out how to deal with that.”
First launched in India, the Ubislate (a.k.a. the Aakash) has put Datawind among the top three tablet manufacturers for the past year. After receiving inquiries from around the world, the company decided there was sufficient demand, and expanded its reach.
Tuli makes it very clear that he is not trying to compete with the Apples and Samsungs of the world, although they are also not really competing with him.
“We were looking at a business opportunity to a customer that is being totally unaddressed. Does Apple make products for that customer base? Does Samsung? Nobody makes a $37.99 tablet in the world. Is it impossible? Hang on. We did,” he says.
“It’s not impossible, but the reason nobody (else) makes it is that they have enough customers who are willing to pay two-three-four hundred dollars, line up outside in this weather because a new version is out, and it’s not dual core now, it’s quad core.”
Ubislate a winning tablet for just $38
Raju Mudhar
http://www.thestar.com/life/technology/2014/01/08/ubislate_a_winning_tablet_for_just_38.html
With all the news out of CES this week focused on the biggest and brightest innovations in technology (4K cameras! Bendable screens!), it’s refreshing to see a Canadian-based company touting a product whose only wow factor is an exceptionally low price.
Datawind, based in Mississauga with research and development operations in Montreal, has created three tablets that start at $38 and top out at $120, aimed at an audience they say has been forgotten by the world’s biggest electronics manufacturers.
Initially created as part of a tender brought forth by the Indian government, the company launched its products in North America and the U.K. in late December, with hopes of targeting cost-conscious consumers who up until now have been priced out of the tablet revolution.
Datawind’s CEO Suneet Singh Tuli is currently at CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas showing off his company’s wares, but sat down with the Star in late December showcasing the product line. The real attention getter is the Ubislate 7Ci, which sounds too good to be true at a retail price of $37.99. It’s available now, plus a $10 shipping fee, from Ubislate.ca.
When Tuli talks, it’s in very different terms from most technology executives, addressing the digital divide between rich and poor.
“We are trying to create technology for what is the biggest unaddressed market. Today, if you look at this globally, there are 5 billion people that use mobile phones and 2 billion that really use the Internet — that 3-billion-person gap is who we want to go after,” he says.
“We looked at what keeps them off the Internet and it is affordability, it is cost. So we had to figure out how to deal with that.”
First launched in India, the Ubislate (a.k.a. the Aakash) has put Datawind among the top three tablet manufacturers for the past year. After receiving inquiries from around the world, the company decided there was sufficient demand, and expanded its reach.
Tuli makes it very clear that he is not trying to compete with the Apples and Samsungs of the world, although they are also not really competing with him.
“We were looking at a business opportunity to a customer that is being totally unaddressed. Does Apple make products for that customer base? Does Samsung? Nobody makes a $37.99 tablet in the world. Is it impossible? Hang on. We did,” he says.
“It’s not impossible, but the reason nobody (else) makes it is that they have enough customers who are willing to pay two-three-four hundred dollars, line up outside in this weather because a new version is out, and it’s not dual core now, it’s quad core.”
