India's $47 Aakash tablet tops 1.4 million sales in two weeks

India's first low-cost tablet, the Aakash (aka UbiSlate 7), is receiving overwhelming attention and demand from both corporate and individual buyers, with more than a million units of the device booked online just two weeks after it was made available. This has prompted U.K.-based vendor Datawind to establish three more factories in India to cater to demand, according to a report.

India's business news daily Economic Times reported Tuesday that 1.4 million units of the Aakash Android-based tablet, priced at 2,499 rupees (US$47), have been ordered, just two weeks after it was released for sale online by Datawind's e-commerce partner Ncarry.com. The device maker had initially released 30,000 devices for order, it added.

Unveiled last October, the low-cost Aakash tablet was commissioned by the Indian government to target the local education sector. Datawind also plans to introduce the next version of Aakash, called Ubislate 7+, by mid-January for 2,999 rupees (US$56.38). The updated device will come with a slot for a SIM card for Internet access by GPRS or 2G connection, which is not available in the first device, the Economic Times reported.

Here are the features planned for the Ubislate 7+.

However, because of delays on the government's end, the Aakash device will probably end up with commercial buyers first before the students for whom the low-cost tablet was initially intended, it added.

For more of this story, read Report: 1.4M orders for India's Android tablet on ZDNet Asia.

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