Cheapo tablet makers quit the market

The glut of dirt cheap and poor quality 'white box' Android tablets may be coming to an end as Chinese firms dump inventory and exit the market according to a DigiTimes report.

While initially attracted to the market by the high prices typical of the earlier generation of tablets, big name brands such as Amazon and Lenovo have devices on the market which eat into the typical cheap Android tablet market.

The next generation of hardware and Android 4.0 OS has also motivated some firms such as Lenovo to dump stock in the Far Eastern markets in order to clear inventory ahead of new product launches.

While there's a solid market for cheap tablets, if the choice is between a no-name knock-off and something with a warranty and 'basic quality', as the DigiTimes put it, then it's no wonder the white box brigade are feeling the pinch.

The DigiTimes revealed that Chinese ODMs had seen a sharp fall in orders from the white-box tablet firms, claiming that prices were being slashed to clear inventory before exiting the market.

The ODMs have the expectation that more than 70 per cent of the cheap tablet firms will get out of the category by early next year.

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