Why brands have been unable to sell Tablets to Indian consumers!

1 FEB, 2012, 11.46AM IST, RAVI BALAKRISHNAN,ET BUREAU 

"We were very bullish about this category and thought it would be an addition to a business phone or laptop. But it's not taken off," says a disappointed Nilesh Gupta, managing partner, Vijay Sales. Gupta is not the only one who expected tablet PCs aka tablets to take the Indian market by storm. 

It seemed likely considering they worked their magic elsewhere. A Gartner report in September last year estimated total global tablet sales at 63.6 million for 2011 and 326.3 million units by 2015. In its last quarter, Apple sold 15.43 million iPads, a 111% increase from last year. 

After over a decade or so in development and many cumbersome metamorphoses, tablets suddenly took the market by storm with the success of iPad. It made just about every electronics/computer brand bet on its own version of a tiny touchscreen powered device. 

Many of these reached India, some of them via simultaneous global launches. And yet, the category's performance has been lacklustre. Depending on who you ask the total sales hover between 150,000 and 180,000 units in India; everyone is in agreement the number is well below 200,000. 

The most obvious obstacle is price. Apart from aberrations like the ultra low budget Aakash tablet (Rs 2,999 for the Ubislate 7+), most products start at a little over Rs 15,000 and go up to near Rs 45,000. Some of today's budget tablets were launched at twice the price just a little over six months ago. 

The BlackBerry PlayBook offered a massive 50% discount towards the end of 2011. While initially advertised as a week long scheme, the price cut was still in effect at the time of going to print. PlayBooks flew off the shelves and some retailers even reported shortages. Krishnadeep Baruah, director, marketing, BlackBerry, says the schemes had begun as early as Diwali when a free entry level smartphone was bundled with the PlayBook: "The tablet by itself is an indulgence. We wanted to make sure there was a good value." 

With the year end gifting season looming, BlackBerry decided to fill the market with PlayBooks and halved its asking price, doing away with the free phone. The price tag on Samsung's Galaxy Tab plummeted shortly after launch. Ranjit Yadav, country head - mobile and IT, Samsung explains, "The tab came bundled with some special offers. After a couple of months, those introductory offers were taken away, and the product sold at a price which has remained more or less consistent." Even the notoriously premium Apple made its original iPad more affordable once the iPad 2 was launched.