Gather round for the Hudl – Tesco’s tablet launch event on the horizon
On Monday 23 September, Tesco is holding a press event, with speculation that it's the unveiling of a new tablet, the Hudl.
The Hudl arrives on the market with a rumoured price tag of £99, taking on Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus, and the tagline 'We've got something to show you.'
Analysts anticipate a 16GB, seven inch screen and it is thought the Hudl could push existing Tesco products: the streaming service Blinkbox and the food shopping app, along with Clubcard incentives for customers.
Google's newest Nexus 7 currently retails at £199 for the 16GB model; Amazon's Kindle Fire is £99 but only 8GB.
With tablet sales on the increase – searches for tablets rose by 132 per cent in the three months to June – Tesco could get off to a good start with the Hudl.
Benedict Evans, analyst at Enders Analysis on Tesco Hudl:
The key issue for Tesco is how do they maintain customer relationships as more and more retail goes online, certainly they want to leverage clubcard and leverage Tesco accounts in all sorts of ways to to create customer loyalty, because at the moment the vast majority of the decision of which supermarket you use is based on which is most convenient, it’s not based on brand or proposition. So the more that Tesco can develop that durable customer relationship it will be beneficial to them.
They could certainly do a £100 or £150 tablet profitably, so there’s no reason they can’t do a profitable tablet at a very reasonable price.
The event will be held at the Rainmaking Loft, London on Monday.