Tesco enters the tablet fray with Hudl | Hacker News Reader

Tesco enters the tablet fray with Hudl

bbc.co.uk

26 pointsstehat26 comments

I don't really understand why this is being considered technology news. This isn't Tesco entering into the technology sector.

This is just a classic case of a retailer maximising their profits in a particular sector.

It doesn't matter what it is, if it's popular and profit margins, they'll sell it. This is no different.

>I don't really understand why this is being considered technology news

Tesco have been hiring a lot of Silverlight and similar discipline developers. They have been working on their own TV streaming service like Netflix, but this one is free. It is supported by advertisements.

For those not from the UK Tesco has a very popular loyalty card system called ClubCard. They where pioneers of it in the UK market IIRC. They know what a lot of people shop for, when they shop for it, and often can guess very accurately what will be a conversion to a sale, and what won't. They do this at the moment with vouchers.

But now they have the streaming TV. They can charge (or they hope!) more for an advert than a competitor. It doesn't matter that Google knows you searched for xxxx or that in an email your friend mentioned that you liked yyyy. Tesco know what you actually bought.

They can measure the effect of showing the same person 10 impressions, and if it results in a conversion. Google and their ilk can not say if it worked. Did more people buy your nice brand of soup because of that slick new advert? Or was it just because the weather was a bit gray that week? Tesco will be able to tie up those exposed to adverts and those who then convert.

They can get a beachhead in your digital life, when for many they already control most of their physical.

This isn't just about selling a tablet, it is about moving advertising in a way we've never seen before in the digital world.

I am very impressed by them for doing this. Rather than re-act to the digital world by using their physical world tactics, or buy just buying some trendy startup. They've taken the best bits of both creating a platform to allow them to fully exploit it.

However, I absolutely hate targeted advertisements, so they won't be getting me near their damned ecosystem (or ClubCard!)

The free TV streaming service has been live for some time - www.clubcardtv.com . There's an Android app of course for the Hudl

In a way this almost seems to make sense. If Tesco are going to sell a tablet in store then it may as well be one they can preload with software that makes them more money, either through video rentals or food delivery.

There's a part of me that wonders how many they're likely to sell at that price point, since it doesn't really feel like an impulse buy, however my local Sainsbury had 42" TVs prominently displayed as you walked in the other day, so presumably there are people who pop out for a bottle of milk and then come home with a TV.

Apparently you can use your Tesco card points to bring the price down to £60, and in a manner that doesn't use £60 worth of points, which moves it further into impulse territory.

The article certainly suggests that Tesco has had some role in the manufacturing of the device - the link through to their announcement even states they were involved in the design. Obviously there is a broad spectrum of meaning to this from simply badging an existing product to digging up the silicon and everything in between. However, the decision to do something beyond selling another brand is different. Tesco have also invested heavily in the BlinkBox brand too and my guess is this device is meant to compliment or even drive people to their video on demand offering. Is this being branded under their 'Tecknica' moniker?

It might not be a big technology story but it's a big business story.

I think it's big deal not because it's Tesco, but it's a big deal because it could be Target, Wegmans, Wal*Mart, Nasty Gal or any other retailer. Retailers are happy to give substantial discounts if you have a loyalty card, so I think they get the concept of a subsidized tablet that collects usage data and keeps you in contact with the brand.

On top of that, if Wi-Fi is provisioned in the store, the tablet can be customized to provide in-store experiences. For instance, the Nook always shows "Barnes and Noble Store" in the network connections chooser which advertises that you can go there when you're on the road.

On top of that, it gives retailers all the more incentive to develop better mobile experiences.

In the Android ecosystem, we'll probably see "white box" tablets made in China that can be easily branded by any company. Perhaps we'll even see contests where you can win a "Red Bull" or "Budweiser" branded tablets.

From Engadget: Hudl features a 7-inch (1,440 x 900 resolution) display for watching those Blinkbox titles in 720p, a quad-core 1.5GHz processor, stock Android 4.2.2, a microSD slot for supplementing the 16GB of internal storage and, according to Tesco, a battery that'll last around 9 hours on a full charge. Some of the specs, such as dual WiFi antennae and stereo speakers on the rear

Can't see how much RAM it's got anywhere.

Some more techy info here e.g. it's made by Archos, Rockchip RK3188 processor, Mali400 graphics and benchmarks but still no mention of RAM

http://www.modaco.com/page/news/_/android/tesco-unveil-the-%...

An interesting direction for Tesco, I wonder how they'll do.

I'm certainly not going to buy one, not after the fiasco with their password security (http://www.troyhunt.com/2012/07/lessons-in-website-security-...).

I'd really want to see the moment when management makes these decisions. I'd like to understand their thought process, business rationale and expectations. A food retailer going into tech.

Have you been into a Tesco lately? Hardly just a food retailer.

Hell, here in Southampton they have a dedicated "HomePlus" (home wares, electrical and electronic) store near the city centre.

Also, the second largest retailer in Korea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeplus

You know, what happens in Korea continues to surprise me, and I'm not even talking about the crazy North.

Last week it was the discovery that they have problems with fundamentalist christians trying to take evolution out of school books (I had no idea Christianity was a major religion over there) and now I find out that Tesco are a major player in their retail market too. How odd!

Lately? Since I first saw a Tesco store it has been a multipurpose all in one store.

Tesco is hardly just a food retailer, not only do they sell all kinds of tech they've got their own MVNO (Tesco Mobile), they've been selling rebranded tech (TVs, DVD players etc.) under their Technika brand for years, they've got a bank, credit cards, insurance and so on.

It's for this reason that I wonder why we are even seeing a news item about it. Retailers like Tesco, Argos, Asda and so on, buy hardware from OEMs all the time and put their brand names on them. I wonder why this one is special?

In a company where management's experience is food retail and their approach towards customers is "food first", developing a conglomerate approach into tech does not inspire a strong sense of direction. Just my view.

I don't think there attitude is really "food first", the food gets people in through the front door every week, but given the placement of things other than food (think DVDs, games, books, and mobile phones) in my local store their profit is likely to be far higher on things other than food where they don't have to squeeze the margins quite so hard.

I used quotes on food first because this is what Tesco management repeatedly said on the annual general meeting this past june/july... I was quoting them.

Ahh, fair enough, I hadn't realised that was a direct quote.

It's no different to a paper and rubber manufacturer going into tech (Nokia). Or a wholesale trader moving into insurance securities, construction, textiles, food processing before entering tech (Samsung).

Think Huddle are going to have something to say about the name...

I was thinking the tech startup Hudl would have a bigger issue: http://www.hudl.com/

/concurs

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