HP, which exited the smartphone market in 2011, has decided to take a plunge again with a pair of voice-enabled phablets. The two devices, dubbed as Slate 6 and Slate 7 VoiceTab, are 6 and 7-inch Android-powered smartphones that will be available initially in India starting first week of February.
HP Slate 6 and Slate 7 are powered by Android 4.2. The devices sport a quad core processor and come with 16GB onboard storage. They also support expansion via MicroSD cards up to 32 GB. Slate 6 offers a resolution of 1,280 x 700 pixels compared to 1,280 x 800 pixels in Slate 7. Both the handsets feature a modest 7-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
Another thing that HP has been touting is the devices' form factor. Both Slate 6 and Slate 7 are less than 10mm thick.
The launch of Slate 6 and Slate 7 are not surprising because as early as 2012, HP CEO Meg Whitman had said that the company wants to "offer a smartphone because in many countries of the world that would be your first computing device.
Another interesting aspect of the launch is the market that HP has chosen. Typically, new devices are launched first in the U.S. or the Europe. "We see a need in India that we can meet," said Ron Coughlin, VP for the consumer PC business. "Consumers are looking for a way to consolidate devices. We think there's an opportunity to enter a growing market where there's an unmet need."
India also happens to be one of the strongest markets for HP. The company is the top brand among PCs covering more than 32 percent of market share in the third quarter of 2013, according to IDC.
The Slate 6 and Slate 7 VoiceTab fits in a market segment called "phablets" that combine the functions of a smartphone in the form factor of a smaller-sized tablet. The phablet market is dominated by Samsung's Galay Note line of devices, even as rivals such as Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo are trying to make inroads.
According to IDC, phablets accounted for nearly 23 percent of overall market for phones in the third quarter of 2013.
HP's Slate 6 and Slate 7 will lock horns in India with established players like Samsung and local brands such as Micromax and Karbonn. The company did not disclose its plans of releasing Slate 6 and Slate 7 in other countries.
"I won't say where or when, but you can expect us to do more in the coming months," Coughlin said. "We'll be talking about this in a more expansive way. But right now we're focused on a successful launch in India."
