Aakash Tablet - Made In India Or China?
Aakash tablet - the cheapest tablet was showcased as a product of Indian innovation done jointly by IIT Bombay and Datawind - the UK based company that's responsible for the manufacturing of the much hyped tablet. However, if the social media is to be believed, the Aakash tablet is actually a cheap tablet manufactured in China and shipped with a few applications (apps) installed by the folks at IIT Bombay.
Some of the recently leaked documents show that Datawind has obtained A13 model designed by AllWinner Tech of China. The tablet cost was estimated to be about Rs. 2300 and were shipped to India on behalf of Datawind by Kalong Technology Co. Ltd, Dasen International Electronics Co Ltd and Kalong Technology Co Ltd. The documents also reveal that IIT Bombay had issued a certificate on October 29 for the import of about 20k of these tablets and even requested an import duty waiver.
Datawind is learned to have 're-branded' these tablets as 'Aakash 2' at a price Rs. 2263 for each piece. It's also being learned that VNC system - the Indian company based out of Hyderabad was initially supposed to assemble these tablets in India; but the company has sued / threatened to sue Datawind in October for Datawind's inability to pay their dues. VNC system confirmed that they stopped production in November.
Based on Report By: <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/hardware/was-indian-innovation-aakash-2-tablet-made-in-china/articleshow/17347799.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Akash 2 Tablet: Was 'Indian innovation' Aakash 2 tablet made in China? - The Economic Times</a>
If this is true, it's shocking!
We've had numerous discussions on CrazyEngineers about why India isn't able to catch up with the innovation in technology and engineering and why, despite producing thousands of engineers and post-graduate degree holders every year, have always failed to come up with a 'Twitter', 'Google' or 'Facebook' from India. Aakash was widely thought to be an 'Indian Innovation', but it turns out that it was just, plain, cheap import from China that's being sold in India with an Indian brand-stamp on it.
Most of the lading mobile companies in India that manufacture dual-sim budget smartphones in India are doing the same. While the companies have 'Indian' names - all they do is import the cheap phones from China (the cost of manufacturing is really really low there!) and then rebrand them and float them in Indian markets as 'Indian Phones'.
Aakash had raised people's hope and for the first time, they were seeing something innovative coming from the engineering Mecca of India - the Indian Institutes of Technology. But that doesn't seem to be the case.
I'm not sure whether we should really be 'serious' about Aakash and care about the origins of the tablet. But this news will surely make people lose their belief in India's innovation abilities. It's indeed very sad that the country, that was once a leader in innovation and technology in all over the world is unable to design and fabricate a simple tablet in India.
What's your opinion on this?
Some of the recently leaked documents show that Datawind has obtained A13 model designed by AllWinner Tech of China. The tablet cost was estimated to be about Rs. 2300 and were shipped to India on behalf of Datawind by Kalong Technology Co. Ltd, Dasen International Electronics Co Ltd and Kalong Technology Co Ltd. The documents also reveal that IIT Bombay had issued a certificate on October 29 for the import of about 20k of these tablets and even requested an import duty waiver.
Datawind is learned to have 're-branded' these tablets as 'Aakash 2' at a price Rs. 2263 for each piece. It's also being learned that VNC system - the Indian company based out of Hyderabad was initially supposed to assemble these tablets in India; but the company has sued / threatened to sue Datawind in October for Datawind's inability to pay their dues. VNC system confirmed that they stopped production in November.
Based on Report By: <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/hardware/was-indian-innovation-aakash-2-tablet-made-in-china/articleshow/17347799.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Akash 2 Tablet: Was 'Indian innovation' Aakash 2 tablet made in China? - The Economic Times</a>
If this is true, it's shocking!
We've had numerous discussions on CrazyEngineers about why India isn't able to catch up with the innovation in technology and engineering and why, despite producing thousands of engineers and post-graduate degree holders every year, have always failed to come up with a 'Twitter', 'Google' or 'Facebook' from India. Aakash was widely thought to be an 'Indian Innovation', but it turns out that it was just, plain, cheap import from China that's being sold in India with an Indian brand-stamp on it.
Most of the lading mobile companies in India that manufacture dual-sim budget smartphones in India are doing the same. While the companies have 'Indian' names - all they do is import the cheap phones from China (the cost of manufacturing is really really low there!) and then rebrand them and float them in Indian markets as 'Indian Phones'.
Aakash had raised people's hope and for the first time, they were seeing something innovative coming from the engineering Mecca of India - the Indian Institutes of Technology. But that doesn't seem to be the case.
I'm not sure whether we should really be 'serious' about Aakash and care about the origins of the tablet. But this news will surely make people lose their belief in India's innovation abilities. It's indeed very sad that the country, that was once a leader in innovation and technology in all over the world is unable to design and fabricate a simple tablet in India.
What's your opinion on this?
0
