The price of world's cheapest tablet computer Aakash 2 will come down to $35 from the current $49, said Telecom and IT Minister Kapil on Wednesday at the Reverse Buyer Seller Meet (RBSM).
"Aakash is a tablet which at the moment costs USD 49. It will come down to USD 35 very soon. It has all the amenities of any modern tablet," Sibal told Press trust of India.
Talking about the visible reasons of this price drops, he said "The capacitative (touch) screen is imported at a cost of USD 22 or around USD 20. The manufacturing cost is USD 2. If you were to set up that manufacturing unit in India, the cost will come down automatically from USD 49 to USD 29."
Speaking at the RBSM which is jointly organized by the Telecom Equipment and Service Export Promotion Council, Sibal also added that the next generation Aakash tablet will feature Skype and all other necessary features of a $150 tablet. This will enable the world's poor population to get hold of such tablets having required specifications on board.
According to reports, the government will float a global tender for the production of Aakash tablet in the country once the Cabinet approves the proposal of manufacturing 50 lakh units in India. Sibal said the government is laying emphasis on research and development (R&D) for improved advances in technology and production of electronic gadgets, so as to provide citiznes feature-packed and inexpensive devices.
"In fact it will be game changer for the world...consumer in Europe, consumer in Japan, consumer in the United States of America would be looking for those solution because he will be getting the same solution at a much lower cost and a very high quality solution," Sibal said.
The Aakash tablet was developed by the government with the purpose of linking the nation's 25,000 colleges and 400 universities to an e-learning programme. The tablet is sold at a subsidized cost to give students access to technology.
