$50 Linux Tablet Expected to Hit the Market

Looking at the prices of the recently launched Samsung and Apple products, here is one piece of news which might make you rub your eyes. A $50 Linux tablet is expected to be launched in the near future. Believe it or not, but a company has recently announced they will be using the open-source operating system to run the tablet and sell it from $50. You would have guessed it couldn’t be any maker in the US as the prices here start from $200. That is quite true.

Indian company Wishtel is the one to go ahead with launching the low-priced tablet. The company, based in Mumbai, has already developed a platform which uses Linux for running the tablet. Known as PrithV, the platform will also be used to run the net books produced by the company. While this might not be exciting news for people this side of the Atlantic, it just goes to show the profit margin the larger companies in the market enjoy.

If Wishtel is able to sell the tablet for $50, it would mean they are working on a low profit margin. However, you would have to take into account the comparatively low costs of labor, material and other necessary components in India as compared to the US or Europe. That being said, Wishtel has lofty aims for their tablet, as they have developed the platform for 85 different languages. You can order it online and enjoy using it.

After all, $50 is nothing especially when you compare spending $500 on an iPad. Furthermore, Wishtel also announced a new series of net books which they would sell from $120. This is the latest piece of news which shows how much the market for consumer gadgets has grown over the years in India. While it remains to be seen how good their tablet is, being able to sell one for $50 is commendable.

[Image via techtree]