White label tablet market to threaten major brands

Cheapie no-names are already a fifth of the market
Rebranded white-label tablet PCs are capturing ever more market share from brand name devices according to a DigiTimes report.
The no-name tablets already account for up to 20 per cent of the global tablet PC market in the first quarter 2011, according to DigiTimes sources within the manufacturing upstream supply chain.
Pricing is playing a key role in the rapid expansion into developing markets with DigiTimes sources believing that the white-label market will increasingly threaten 'first-tier tablet PC players' in the second half of the year.
The sources noted that the North American market is seeing the rise in popularity of a number of rebranded low-end tablets to the point that they have appeared in the Amazon top-20 selling product lists. Most of the devices are 7-inch resistive touch screen devices selling for a fraction of that of high-end branded models.
One such example is the UK Andy Pad set to arrive in September priced at £129. Amazon UK also provides a window into the emerging white-label Android tablets with a number of sub £100 models with generic sounding names such as Epad, Apad and Tabtech.
A common feature of such devices is that they are marketed by placing the emphasis on Google and Android rather than the brand name of the devices. With continued supply shortage of higher spec brand-name devices in the channel, such generic inexpensive devices look set to become increasing attractive to retailers.
DigiTimes source dryly noted that such devices "can be easily damaged or have a defect."

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