Tesco has said that an updated version of its surprise hit tablet computer, the Hudl, will be launched in 2014.
“The new model will be an enhanced version,” said Tesco’s chief executive, Philip Clarke.
He also announced that Tesco had sold more than 35,000 Hudl tablets within the first few days of the launch, and has sold more than 300,000 to date, “more than we had originally planned in total in the run-up to Christmas” according to Clarke.
“With the UK being the hottest European market for tablets it comes as little surprise that Tesco is looking to build on the success of its first foray into this segment,” said Ben Wood, mobile analyst with research firm CCS Insight talking to the Guardian.
Chief digital officer at Tesco, Michael Comish, admitted that Tesco had struggled to maintain stock of the tablets saying, “they are flying off the shelves so quickly, it has run out of stock twice”.
The Tesco Hudl, priced at £119 or less, has taken the budget tablet market by storm, prompting moves by other British high street names such as Argos and Aldi to do the same.
“Our expectation is that the Hudl tablet could be a beachhead for a wider expansion into own-branded consumer electronics given the strong sales it has already recorded,” said Wood.
The Hudl, based on perfectly usable Android without significant modification, impressed critics for its solid build,good screen,and excellent val.
But the Hudl represents more than just a single product to Tesco, it is an entry into consumer homes, something other retailers like Amazon are using to great effect.
“Tesco will be acutely aware that Amazon is using its Kindle Fire tablets as a direct means to deepen its relationship with its customers,” said Wood. “Tesco must address this quickly and develop Hudl into a direct channel that links into its numerous other assets such as the Clubcard and Blinkbox.”
The Hudl tablet has taken on the gap in the retail giant’s consumer electronics sales, after the retailer's chief executive Philip Clark esaid that it would be scaling back on sales of products such as flat-screen TVs, which "take up a lot of space and [don't] take a lot of money".
In the UK in 2012, 8.3m tablets were sold according to data from CCS Insight, with more than half of those sales coming in the last quarter of the year alone. Expanding upon 2012’s market, almost 6m tablets were sold in the first half of 2013, and demand is expected to accelerate into Christmas.
Source: theguardian
