Datawind becomes third largest tablet seller in India

Datawind, the company behind India's most talked about budget tablet, has become the third largest tablet seller according to data from technology market researcher CyberMedia Research, behind Samsung and Micromax.

                        

According to the latest data from technology market researcher CyberMedia Research, Datawind, the company that won the tender from the Indian government and is the manufacturer of the Aakash tablet, has become the third largest tablet seller in India.

During the time period of July to September, Datawind faced some criticism for missing the deadline for its Rs. 2,263 Aakash tablet to the government. During that period, Datawind has a 12 percent market share in India. This market share is excluding the Aakash tablets provided to the Indian government.

The research form has said that the total number of tablets in India in 2012 was close to 3 million. During the three months leading to September 2012, over one million tablets were sold in India. Samsung is the leader in this segment in India with a share of 24% followed by Micromax, which has a market share in India of 15%. The gap is a considerable one between the two market leaders.

A whopping 135 vendors have launched their tablets till Q3 2012 flooding the budget tablet market with a slew of homogenous products.

According to Faisal Kawoosa, lead analyst, CyberMedia Research Telecoms Practice, "A majority of the tablets currently on offer have built-in WiFi connectivity with 3G access enabled through a USB dongle. However, going forward, increased penetration of 3G networks, declining ASVs of 3G-enabled media tablets and launch of BWA (4G / WiMax / LTE) services in the country is likely to see a rise in 3G-only tablet devices with larger screen sizes. This trend is expected to give a fillip to new types of data services and content being demanded and consumed by subscribers, which in turn will drive a further increase in adoption of Media Tablets in India "

Budget tablets are all the rage these days. If you are interested in picking up a budget tablet, you can take a look at our top 10 budget tablets list.