1st May 2012
First Published: Tue, May 01 2012. 07 20 PM IST
Market potential: Students checking out Aakash tablets. Widespread adoption of tablets in the country’s schools and colleges could be a game changer for the devices. Photo: Hindustan Times
Updated: Tue, May 01 2012. 07 20 PM IST
Mumbai/New Delhi: Who said this? “This marks India’s leap into the future of PC technology.” Answer: Kapil Sibal? Correct. What was he talking about? Answer: The Aakash tablet, promoted by the government? Wrong. He was speaking as minister for science and technology in 2005 about the Mobilis, a Linux-based mobile computer with a 7.4-inch liquid crystal display touch screen and a roll-up keyboard that cost Rs 10,000.
Even before Aakash was unveiled in 2011, there were attempts to produce a cheap, disruptive device that would break down the divide between the digital haves and the have-nots and transform education, among other areas of public and private life in the country.
Before the Mobilis, there was the Simputer, which stood for a simple, inexpensive and multilingual people’s computer. The hand-held low-cost computing device was introduced in 2002 by the Simputer Trust, a non-profit organization formed by seven Indian scientists and engineers. It was touted as a device that would change the low-cost computing ecosystem in the country.
Manufactured by domestic firm Encore Software Ltd, only 4,000 units of a targeted 50,000 were sold and they were primarily used by the governments of Karnataka and Chhattisgarh to automate the process of land records and for online education. Encore was also the manufacturer of the Mobilis.
By 2011, both the Simputer and the Mobilis had faded from public memory, when Sibal unveiled Aakash with a pronouncement similar to the one he made six years ago. This time round, the government was putting its considerable might behind the $45 device.
The government’s model for technological acceptance is the way in which the mobile phone has been embraced across the nation of 1.2 billion people. India, where the mobile phone made its entry in 1995, has become the second fastest growing wireless market in the world, after China, with 231 million handsets expected to be sold this year. Of these, 8% (around 18.5 million) will be smartphones, according to research firm Gartner Inc. (which doesn’t give numbers for tablets sold in India).
Thanks to the runaway success of Apple’s iPad, tablets have gained currency and credibility—that was the backdrop to the introduction of Aakash. But tablets haven’t become as widely adopted in India as the high level of interest in them might imply. About 250,000 tablets were sold in the country last year, of which 70% were accounted for by iPads, Samsung devices and Research in Motion Ltd’s BlackBerry PlayBook, according to IDC Centre for Consultancy and Research.
In mature markets, tablets have eroded the sales of personal computers (PCs) and notebooks. Tablet sales this year are forecast at 118.9 million units, a 98% increase from last year, according to Gartner. Apple’s iOS is projected to account for 61.4% of these sales, followed by Google’s Android operating system that’s used in tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
A large number of cheaper tablets made in Taiwan or elsewhere and running Google Inc.’s Android system can be found in Delhi’s Palika Bazaar or online, but buyers don’t seem to be too enthused by them. Even an avowedly price-conscious market like India is particular about what is considered acceptable quality, especially in relation to the benchmark set by the iPad.
“Aakash surely created the buzz, but the market for tablets in the country is still not there. Tablets are a very nascent market in India. Yes, there is much hype and hoopla. But many vendors have realized that they have to offer value, and budget tablets can’t offer that value even for schools and colleges,” said G. Rajeev, senior market analyst (mobile devices and tablets) at IDC Centre for Consultancy and Research.
With mostly young consumers and college-going students experimenting with the device, a push from telecom service providers for better connectivity and content availability “will decide their fate”, he said.
IDC estimates tablet sales will double in 2012 to 500,000 units, but that’s still a small number compared with the figures for mobile phones.
What could be a game changer is the widespread adoption of tablets in the country’s schools and colleges.
“If the use of tablets picks up in the education sector, the market will see a sea change,” said Vishal Tripathi, principal research analyst with Gartner.
But the Aakash type of low-cost initiatives, tied as they are to education, have thus far run out of steam for lack of adequate supporting infrastructure, which includes content, unlimited data plans and applications, besides a robust distribution network, according to analysts, manufacturers and industry experts. In addition to this, the user experience with the first iteration of Aakash was disappointing, given its resistive touch screen, and the aforementioned lack of apps, content and a good data plan.
Meanwhile, there are significant delays in the delivery of the upgraded version of Aakash, the $60 device, termed as UbiSlate 7+ with optional 3G connectivity, which the manufacturer Canada’s DataWind Ltd ascribes to a spat with its former assembly partner, Hyderabad’s Quad Electronics Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
“Aakash was a really noble idea, which wanted to equip every college-going student with a computing device, but the specifications were not really supportive and the required content also was not adequate in the version launched,” said Naveen Mishra, lead telecom analyst with CyberMedia Research, a research and consulting firm.
The success of any initiative such as Aakash will depend on whether the device meets expectations, said professor S. Sadagopan, director of the International Institute of Information?Technology,?Bangalore.
“For a device like Aakash to be successful, it has to deliver a great consumer experience. Apple has raised the benchmark for tablets and Indians will not settle for anything less. They will want 3G-like speeds and unlimited bandwidth. Other than these factors, manufacturers who get into this game will also have to focus on logistics, distribution—in short, the entire computing ecosystem,” he added. That may prompt most manufacturers to steer clear.
Ajai Chowdhry, chairman of hardware and services company HCL Infosystems Ltd, had said in February that the Aakash project was “good as a concept, but manufacturers like us face the challenge of delivering a good quality product at this specified price point”.
Chowdhry said he believes that the government did create an ecosystem around Aakash. For example, there was broadband for engineering colleges, content through the Indian Institutes of Technology, “but the tablet PC it finally got, as we understand from media reports, fell short of expectations. Tablet PCs for engineering applications require much more processing power, which could not be met with the earlier specifications”, he added.
“With Aakash II (the upgraded version), we would like to see the bids first and then participate. If we can’t meet the requirements at those price points, we’d rather stay away,” Chowdhry said.
A senior executive at a large overseas company said, on condition of anonymity, that big manufacturers would hesitate to take on the project, given the “negative publicity around it. When the government first released the specifications, not many companies bid for it because the price was not feasible at all.” He likened the Aakash project to “an attempt to launch cars even before the roads are built”.
Globally, low-cost computing hasn’t managed to hold to price targets. The XO from Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the One Laptop per Child project, was initially priced at around $100. The laptops, which now sell in 40 countries including India, are priced in excess of $200. Other low-cost computing initiatives include Intel Inc.’s Classmate PC priced at Rs 18,000.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu is taking a different course. Chief minister J. Jayalalithaa’s administration is giving away 6.8 million laptops over its five-year term to students of government-aided higher secondary schools and colleges as part of a pre-election pledge.
In Uttar Pradesh as well, where the Samajwadi Party won the assembly elections recently, the party had promised a free laptop each to all students who graduate from high school (class XII) and a free tablet computer to anyone who clears class X. According to data from the ministry of human resource development, 4.5 million students enrolled for classes X and XII in 2007-08.
leslie.d@livemint.com
First Published: Tue, May 01 2012. 07 20 PM IST
