Smartlink enters Tablet market, launches DIGITAB

Aims to soon start manufacturing in India

Smartlink, BSE listed firm provider of computer networking technology today announced their entry into the Indian Tablet Market with the launch of three new tablets.

The company also plans to soon manufacture tablets from India as it sees volume picking up. Smartlink aims to ship more than 300k tablets in the next financial year.

The three models of Tablets, comprising the 7 inch DIGITAB, DT-LM711, 10 inch DIGITAB, DT-SS1078W and the 7 inch dual sim DIGITAB, DT-LM72T are catered to help the next generation of mobile customers to multitask on the go.

“To start with we are going to assemble the tablets in India market. But as we see volumes picking up we will start manufacturing. To make manufacturing conducive we need to see shipments touching atleast 20,000 tablet per quarter. We think we will be able to start manufacturing by second quarter of FY15,” said Bimal Raj, CEO, Smartlink Network Systems.

Smartlink however, is entering into a highly fragmented market, where the top market share is controlled by few players.

“We see an opportunity in this space because of regulatory norms. Smartlink for several years has been a BIS norms certification. Tablets as a category too now requires BIS certification. Several players, especially the smaller, do not have the capability to address this. Hence there is going to be a huge vacuum as the bottom of the market. We have a room to play there as we have ready infrastructure in terms of factory,” said Raj.

Raj also believes that with a strong presence in the enterprise and SME segment also allows them to play in this segment.

“CIOs are looking at mobility but there is a need for customization too. We have seen good traction for tablets among our customer base,” added he.

One another advantage that Smartlink has over other several home-grown tablet manufacturers and suppliers is the support system. Smartlink has over 100 support centres across India.

They also plan to use their SI and partner eco-system to target BFSI and education sectors.

The tablets launched are built on Android operating system, going ahead they also plan to launch tablets on Windows.