The Canadian manufacturers of the “world’s lowest cost” version of the device is aiming for ultra-cheap.
Datawind, a Canadian mobile manufacturer that has already been making tablet commerce news headlines through its creation of the lowest cost device in this category, the UbiSlate 7Ci which retails for $37.99 still isn’t cheap enough for the company which is now looking to reduce the cost of the ownership of these gadgets.
The company is hoping to be able to slash 50 percent from the price tag for its products.
The hope is that this low price will open up tablet commerce to pretty much anybody. According to the CEO of Datawind, Suneet Singh Tuli, “This idea is to bridge the digital divide, it’s really that simple, the idea is to overcome the affordability barrier.” The company currently boasts five different locations, including Toronto Canada, as well as England, India, and Germany.
They feel that tablet commerce can be affordable for everyone and that everybody has a right to it.
Singh Tali explained that “We think as the Scandinavians do that (Internet access) is a fundamental human right.” The team from the company is now working on implementing a new strategy that will help to slash the price for tablets that will be considered “good enough” for many consumers, especially considering they will only be paying around $20 for them.
Datawind is best recognized for the work that it has done with the Indian government. It has previously supplied them with inexpensive tablets for a program that is designed to ensure that students will have access to these mobile devices.
Recently, MIT Technology Review magazine called Datawind one of the 50 smartest companies in the world. That was following the launch of its cheap tablet computers under the Aakash brand with the Indian government.
At the same time that the government of India is now considering the proposals of a number of companies, including Datawind, for the next generation of Aakash, the business has now set its sights on tablet commerce in North America as well as the United Kingdom. It is hoping to place a better focus on selling UbiSlate branded devices directly to the consumer.
