PC maker Dell is about to re-launch its tablets in the Indian market with a new strategy and features such as voice calling. The company will start selling its range of seven and eight inch tablets, with voice calling capability, starting September 15. Currently, Dell tablets sold in India allow users to make calls over Skype but not using a cellular network. Dell has so far not been able to create a dent in the Indian tablet market. The company believes it is partly of lack of voice calling features in its tablets and partly because of the company’s lack of tie-ups with mobile retailers
“About 70-75% of tablet sales in India happen in the voice-enabled tablet space and 60% of that total market is dominated by the mobile specialty stores,” said P Krishnakumar, executive director, consumer and small business, Dell India. “We are, therefore, trying to target these segments to augment our tablet strategy in India.” The new tablets will be available at mobile retail stores in 60 cities to begin with. “However, the retail partners will only sell our tablets and not the notebooks, or all-in-one PCs,” Krishnakumar said.
A series of television commercials will begin in the coming weeks to market the new tablets. Krishnakumar said the tablets will be priced slightly higher than its current 3G tablets, which start at Rs 10,199. The new range will be available on both Android and Windows platforms. Dell has also quietly launched Google Chromebook, which runs on Google’s cloud-based Chrome OS, in India targeted at education and SMB customers.
