Tesco Sold 400,000 Hudl Tablets In 2013

Tesco has revealed that its own-brand Hudl tablet sold nearly 400,000 units in the three months that it was available up to the end of 2013. Upon its launch, the device was dismissed as a cheap alternative to Apple’s well-established market leading iPad, but with the news that over half of Britons now have access to a tablet, it seems the Hudl has been something of a success.

Joining the likes of Amazon and Argos in offering a low-cost, basic Android tablet device, the Hudl went on sale in September for £119.

Tesco stated that over 300,000 units were been sold through its stores and online in the build up to Christmas, but demand was so high that the company struggled to ensure enough stock was on shelves, selling out of the tablet on two occasions.

Every little helps

With some devices going on sale on eBay for as much as £180, a further 100,000 tablets were sold over the Christmas period, bringing the total sales to around 400,000 in a little over three months.

At its launch, Philip Clarke, CEO of Tesco, indicated that the company was looking at getting heavily involved in the tablet market, “Being online is an increasingly essential part of family life and whilst tablets are on the rise, usage is still quite limited. We feel the time is right for Tesco to help widen tablet ownership and bring the fun, convenience and excitement of tablets to even more customers across the UK. The digital revolution should be for the many, not for the few.”

The Hudl features a 7-inch screen, 1.5GHz quad-core processor, and runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2. It offers up to nine hours battery life and is currently available in four colours. Tesco has recently confirmed that it is working on a second-generation version of the device, which will be released later this year.

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