The first private sector telco to introduce CDMA tablets in the Indian market, RCOM is going after business users with this product. By Pupul Dutta
The Indian market is witnessing a replication of what had started as the ‘smartphone war’ in 2009, with many Indian manufacturers or telecom operators offering devices (tablets) albeit at a lower price. In a scenario such as this, how does one stand out from the crowd, especially when every second company offers an Android tablet with almost similar features and at an attractive price! The answer to this is by offering a CDMA-based tablet, which not many players have.
Keeping in mind the non-3G users, who still account for the bulk of the user base, Reliance Communications has launched a CDMA tablet.
Reliance’s CDMA Tab comes with a 7-inch capacitive touch screen running Android 2.3 with 512 MB RAM and micro SD external storage.
Why CDMA?
So far, only state-run telecommunications giant BSNL has launched a CDMA tablet in association with Pantel. However, the tablet is yet to be launched in the retail market.
Sanjay Behl, Group Head – Brand and Marketing, Reliance Communications Ltd., said, “We have a pan-Indian CDMA network with high-speed data capabilities in over a thousand towns. Along with our 3G network in 333 towns we have a seamless IP backhaul.”
“Our endeavor is to provide the best customer experience among tablets in terms of speed, coverage and app ecosystem at affordable prices. With the launch of the 3G Tab, we have established ourselves as a player in the tablet market. With this latest addition (CDMA tablet), we fulfill the need of non-3G customers for a high quality CDMA tablet.”
Prospects for tablets
Although the Indian buyer is spoiled for choice given the plethora of options that are available in terms of cheap tablets, growth in this segment is yet to pick up. Vishal Tripathi, Principal Research Analyst at Gartner, said, “The Indian market needs a combination of competitively priced tablets along with rich Indian applications for this category to gain traction. With smartphones penetrating deeper in tier 2 and 3 cities, many users are now able to fulfill their Internet needs with smartphones.”
Despite the numerous choices that are available, not all companies are successful as the branding of tablets is vital for most customers. “Brand name and recall value play a pivotal role as devices with the best hardware features coupled with decent applications and India-specific prices struggle in the market while the Samsung Galaxy, for example, walks away with a big piece of the cake,” said Tripathi.
CDMA versus GSM
Behl argued that the Indian market was set for phenomenal growth in the tablet category.
“Seamless connectivity and expansive deep coverage will be some of the key drivers for this segment’s growth. Given the high quality experience on the CDMA network, there is a large segment of telecom users who prefer CDMA over GSM.”
HSD coverage in terms of number of towns covered is much higher in the case of CDMA as compared to 3G.
“Theoretically, HSDPA/3G supports a throughput of 7.2 Mbps but it does not have the same stability and penetration capability inside buildings as CDMA HSD. Moreover, the most data intensive application on the Tab are video streaming apps like Youtube which only require about 400 Kbps and are easily supported by both technologies,” added Behl.
Corporate play
Reliance planned to bundle data offers along with the device to make it more appealing to the target audience and it would also come up with trade channel promotional plans. “We are also reaching out to our existing CDMA customers and corporate clients, who wish to upgrade to tablets,” he added.
Currently, the Reliance CDMA Tablet is available at all the Reliance stores, large format retail stores and few multi brand outlets. “Further, our in-house corporate sales team will provide product demonstration as well as sales and service support to our enterprise customers,” Behl concluded.
pupul.dutta@expressindia.com