| News | Features | Interviews |
| Blog | Contact | Editorials |
| Nigeria's low-cost tablet computer |
| By Thom Holwerda, submitted by MOS6510 on 2012-07-20 19:16:11 |
| "Nigeria's Saheed Adepoju is a young man with big dreams. He is the inventor of the Inye, a tablet computer designed for the African market. According to the 29-year-old entrepreneur, his machine's key selling point is its price - $350 opposed to around $700 for an iPad. He believes that, because of this, there is a big market for it in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa, particularly amongst students. He is also hoping to sell his tablet - which runs on the Google Android operating system - to the Nigerian government and plans to have at least one computer in each local government area." Mobile phones have had a huge impact on Africa, so just imagine what tablets, with their larger screens and easier access to the web, can do. Amazing initiative. |
|
| try $80 instead. |
| By unclefester on 2012-07-21 03:18:25 |
| 7" Android tablets with ICS similar specifications sell for as little as $80 in China. |
 - Score: 4 |
| RE[3]: It depends |
| By a2d23 on 2012-07-21 04:25:19 |
|
That's not about quality that's about availability. And yes it sounds way too much, in indeia they have a less then 100$ tablets. Not to say top android devices are as good as it gets... |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE: It depends |
| By Neolander on 2012-07-21 06:09:18 |
|
Well, you could also have as a goal to make people hate all current tablets, regardless of what the OS is, and ask for such things as better input devices as big fingers on a water-sensitive surface, desktop Windows-like full OS support for more than five years, user-replaceable batteries... or quality offerings below laptop pricing, since tablets functionally cannot do as much as a laptop in their current form. Either OS and device manufacturers admit that current tablets are just big PMPs like Archos used to make 10 years ago, and they reduce the price accordingly (this is old news, so it should be cheap), or they advertise the thing as a shiny potential desktop replacement and have to offer at least the same quality of service that desktop have had for years. But they shouldn't have it both ways. Edited 2012-07-21 06:11 UTC |
| - Score: 2 |
| not cheap... how can he think he has a market? |
| By hakossem on 2012-07-21 06:16:08 |
|
India is building a $35 tablet. A similar tablet is built by Archos and sold for less than $200. But $200 is very expensive for most people living in a third world country. It is true than his tablet is cheaper than an iPad but compared with similar products, it is not better and very expensive. |
| - Score: 2 |
| Sceptical but.. |
| By Gone fishing on 2012-07-21 08:10:43 |
|
I'm sceptical about this product, its expensive and a young entrepreneur is likely to fail in Nigeria's famous corruption, or become part of it - on the other hand Nigeria is a huge market so I wish him luck. However, in most of Africa more people are connected to the world through mobile network rather than landlines. Landline internet is expensive (in much of Africa) if you can get it. So it is like that the continent will be connected to the net through mobile networks. iPads are way too expensive and although many Africans would aspire to such toys, this is in the realm of government ministers most, will connect through cheaper android devices Edited 2012-07-21 08:15 UTC |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[2]: Uhm... |
| By Lennie on 2012-07-21 08:27:48 |
| If he compares it to the iPad, my guess is it would be the screensize of the iPad. Not the smaller screensize of the offering by Amazon or Google. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[3]: Uhm... |
| By Bobthearch on 2012-07-21 09:32:40 |
|
He says it's an 8-inch device, so that is a critical pricing factor. Still, I'm seeing many 8" - 10" tablets advertised for $150 - $200. So I still don't think the pricing of the Inye tablet is anything special. Probably the OEMs didn't give him much of a volume discount. Remember he only started with $60,000, and out of that had to come the hardware design, software customizations, and whatever other expenses. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[3]: It depends |
| By lucas_maximus on 2012-07-21 13:14:36 |
| Looked pretty decent from the video. |
| - Score: 2 |
| Taxes |
| By earksiinni on 2012-07-21 14:25:29 |
|
Sometimes taxes on these kinds of products are exorbitant outside the West. I'm wondering what they're like in Nigeria. $350 might be a bargain not just vs. iPad but any tablet available there (the world is not flat yet). Also, his parents gave him 40,000 quid to start up a company? A real Horatio Alger right there! |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[4]: It depends |
| By ricegf on 2012-07-21 15:33:43 |
|
Actually $199 with a $25 credit to Google Play for the 8 GB model, so kinda sorta $174. ;-) Yesterday I ordered this for my son, a CS major who has been developing Android apps on his older Nexus for a while. It arrived this morning, less than 24 hours after my order, with standard 2-day shipping no less. It turned on, synced to wifi, and took off like a startled cheetah. My iPad is looking rather antiquated at the moment. :-/ |
| - Score: 4 |
| News | Features | Interviews |
| Blog | Contact | Editorials |