Flipkart forays into self-branded electronics with its INR 9999 tablet

India's e-commerce darling Flipkart has stepped into the self-branded products space with the launch of its own electronics hardware product, a seven-inch tablet. The tablet has been launched under its private brand, Digiflip Pro.

The Digiflip Pro XT712 tablet has a 1280x800p HD resolution with IPS display, is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core cortex A7 processor. The tablet runs on Android Jelly Bean and has a 5MP camera. The tablet is equipped with a 1GB RAM and supports 3G dual sim. The device weighs just 285 grams.

The e-commerce behemoth has priced the tablet at a price of INR 9999 and apart from the impressive specs is luring its 18 million registered users with shopping benefits worth over INR 5,000 and free e-books worth over INR 2,000. These offers can be availed by customers once they use the Flipkart mobile app that comes pre-installed on the tablet.

Their foray into self-branded electronics comes close on the heels of the acquisition of its fashion e-commerce competitor Myntra, followed with a $210 million funding from DST Global, headed by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner.

Flipkart has had to deal with an Enforcement Directorate (ED) statement that they are exploring the possibility of slapping an INR 1400 crore notice to Flipkart. And with competition heating up with the entry of Amazon last June and eBay backed Snapdeal breathing down its neck this move shows the urgency at Flipkart to differentiate and diversify as fast as possible. 

Related read: Why Flipkart & Snapdeal should be worried about the Big Daddies of global retail

The vice president of retail and head of brand alliances at Flipkart, Michael Adnani said that the tablet is another step towards the company’s goal of building an entire e-commerce ecosystem in India.

“With one of the largest user bases in the country, we have access to unparalleled data that allows us to predict what kind of products and services will work well in the market. And this has helped us come out with a tablet like Digiflip Pro XT712 that offers high end specifications at an unheard-of price point in India, thus delivering great value to our customers."