Tesco to launch Hudl tablet next week

Tesco is poised to break into the tablet market with the £119 Hudl, as Britain's biggest retailer attempts to reinvent itself for the digital age.

Tesco, which has been trying to overhaul its business and its brand after its first profit warning in 20 years and a series of setbacks including its involvement in the horsemeat scandal, will launch the tablet next week.

Philip Clarke, chief executive, said the device would make tablet technology accessible and affordable to the three quarters of British households that do not own a tablet computer.

"We want more of our customers to access the benefits of tablets. They are for the many, not for the few," he said.

The Hudl, which will be available across 1,000 of Tesco's biggest stores and online from Monday, September 30, boasts a 7in screen, 16GB of memory, dual band WiFi and uses Google's Android system.

A Tesco launch button takes customers to Tesco's digital services, including online shopping and banking, Blinkbox films and TV and Clubcard TV, which offers films and TV to members of Tesco's Clubcard loyalty scheme.

Tesco said the device had been developed from scratch using input from up to 100 customers.

Mike McNamara, chief information officer at Tesco, said: "If you compare the specification we have put together with the specification of similarly priced products on the market we will beat them hands down."

Holders of a Tesco Clubcard will be able to double the value of their loyalty reward vouchers and potentially purchase the device for £60.

Consumer adoption of tablet computers such as the iPad or Google Nexus has more than doubled over the past year, with a quarter of UK households owning a tablet as of the first quarter this year, according to Ofcom.

Tesco's tablet will cost about the same as other Android tablets but will be significantly cheaper than Apple's iPad Mini, which costs upwards of £269.

Benedict Evans, mobile analyst at Enders Analysis, said the Hudl would help Tesco defend its business against ecommerce rivals such as Amazon, which offers the Kindle Fire.

"Tesco's strategic imperative is to start building up people's sense that the company is a place to go to get things digitally."

The problem for Tesco, Mr Evans said, is that the iPad is getting cheaper, offers a better user experience and a greater range of apps than Android tablets such as the Hudl. "If money was not an object, you would never buy the Hudl," he said.

The launch is the latest in Tesco's efforts to meet the demands of customers who want to shop online and use the latest technology. It has already moved away from building large stores in its home market in favour of investing in smaller stores and online shopping.

Mr McNamara said the Hudl was "another demonstration of our commitment to being a digital leader. We already have the content. Now we have the hardware."

Clive Black, analyst at Shore Capital, said: "In a business the size of Tesco . . . Hudl is not expected to single-handedly move the revenue or profit dial any time soon or ever. However, if it is well received, then it may contribute to what is clearly a hard earned but only very steady self-improvement programme."

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