Apparently even supermarket giants are entering the smartphone industry. Tesco, one of the largest retail chains in the UK, has announced that it will be releasing a smartphone later this year. The decision has been tied to the success of the company’s Hudl tablet, which has sold more than 500,000 units so far.
The Hudl tablet has sold well and according to Tesco CEO Philip Clarke, it will be releasing an updated version of that device sometime this year as well. As for the smartphone, it will basically be a smaller version of the tablet.
Tesco Hudl Phone: The T Button
One of the differentiating features of the Hudl tablet was the inclusion of the T button, which links users to all of Tesco’s various services. Since Tesco is into more industries that just retail–it also does banking and on-demand movies and videos–clicking the T button will pull up all sorts of features.
The Hudl smartphone and tablet are to Tesco as the Kindle Fire HDX is to Amazon. All of the devices are meant to provide greater access to the online offerings of each company. The Kindle Fire HDX serves as an extra gateway to Amazon and the Hudl smartphone will serve as a gateway to online grocery sales at Tesco.
Unlike in the US where online grocery businesses are few and far between, that market is apparently quite large in the UK, and Tesco is leading the push. Clarke says that the tablet was released last year with the primary goal of providing a new way to shop online and with the T button, it seems like the smartphone will do the same thing.
Tesco’s Hudl: Price Point
One thing that we have yet to find out about the upcoming smartphone is how much it will cost. The only information we can base our assumptions off of is the Tesco Hudl tablet, which was released at around $200. For an Android tablet, $200 is not extremely cheap but it is near the bottom of the average price points.
It seems likely that the same sort of relative price point would be hit with the Tesco Hudl smartphone. If that is true, then a $300-400 handset could end up being released.
Summary: Tesco will be releasing a Hudl smartphone later this year. It will include easy access to Tesco’s grocery shopping, on-demand movies, and banking. The company’s Hudl tablet has sold well following 2013 release.
image via mirror