Market Watch: Tablets above Rs 10,000

The proliferation of tablets in the Indian market has led to devices spread across a wide price range. It isn't just the sub-10k range which is attracting users, the mid to high-range segment with tablets priced over Rs 10,000 has been getting a good response too. One will find some decent mid-range devices focusing on value for money as well as feature-loaded high-end tablets priced over Rs 20,000. While most of our home-brewed tablets have been focusing on “quality specs in an affordable package”, consumers still prefer “brand-value” over other things.

Depending upon the tablets available in the local market, let’s see how the mid to high-range market is shaping up and which are the best selling tablets priced over Rs 10,000. 

What’s hot
Despite a slew of tablets in the market, the iPad continues to be the most preferred of them all. The newest iPad sibling, the iPad mini, and the latest iPad 4 with the Retina display are currently reigning the market with the highest sales. People are opting for the 16GB iPad mini, both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models, which are being sold for Rs 21,000 and Rs 28,500. Apple entering the 7-incher market was a good move after all. Dealers reveal that the first choice of consumers is the iPad. The iPad 4 (Wi-Fi only) is also its hot-selling device priced at Rs 30,000. The dealers also revealed that about 25 iPad units are being sold each week, for the past one month.

Galaxy Tab2 310 and iPad mini

Another tablet making decent sales in the market is from Samsung – the Galaxy Tab2 310. The Tab2 310 is being sold for Rs 18,500 for the Wi-Fi + 3G version. Samsung is also making some “ok” sales with the Galaxy P3110 (Wi-Fi only), now priced Rs 13,500. However, the mid-range tablet sales seem weak for the past one month. According to the dealers, in spite of the several cheaper options made available in the Indian market, consumers still prefer brands like Samsung and Apple for the quality and smooth interface.

What's not
The iPad 2, which was doing phenomenal sales in November and December, has suddenly died down. It looks like the iPad 4 and iPad mini are cannibalising the sales of the iPad 2. The iPad 2 sales have been falling tremendously since the availability of the iPad mini. The 16GB iPad 2 (Wi-Fi) is being sold for a similar price as that of the 16GB Wi-Fi-only iPad mini at Rs 21,000; it was being sold for Rs 23,000 until the end of last year. The iPad 2 featuring Wi-Fi + 3G is priced at Rs 28,000.

Nexus 7...not attracting consumers

While the original Galaxy Note and Note II are quite popular in the phablet range, the Note 800 isn't receiving much attention. The reason is touted to be its high price tag that reads Rs 36,000. Consumers do not prefer paying such a high price for the Galaxy Note 800 possibly because they can lay their hands on the iPad for a cheaper price. Unlike the popular Galaxy Nexus smartphone, which has shown some consistent sales and even price hikes, the Google Nexus 7 tablet hasn't been able to attract such attention and the sales are far from good. The Wi-Fi-only version of the Google Nexus tablet  with 16GB on-board memory is being  sold for Rs 21,000 while the Wi-Fi +3G is available for Rs 28,000. However, both these models are available without bill and warranty .

Most of the dealers have readily available stocks of tablets from HCL, Swipe and Mitashi. However, in spite of the easy availability of these tablets,  their sales are just about “ok”.  Not many people are opting for them.

Evidently, the iPad continues to reign, while other contenders are barely anywhere close to it - at least the market watch for the past one month reveals this. On the other hand, there have been reports that Apple's iPads may fall behind Android tablets this year because of their popularity and the variety of models they offer. The table below shows the tablets over Rs 10,000, and the ones highlighted in red are the hot-sellers for the past one month.

Tablets above Rs 10,000

Disclaimer: The details mentioned herein are based on the information provided by local dealers and our market sources in Mumbai city, and reflect the rates applicable at the time this article was published. The views expressed in the article in no way reflect the official sales records of the respective companies.