Tesco joins tablet computer market

British supermarket giant Tesco on Monday, Sept. 23, 2013, unveiled its first tablet computer, as the supermarket chain seeks to boost flagging sales in its domestic market. AFP

LONDON—Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco on Monday unveiled its first tablet computer, as the supermarket chain seeks to boost flagging sales in its domestic market.

The Hudl high-definition tablet, with a 7-inch screen—will retail at £119 ($191, 141 euros) and use Google’s Android Jelly Bean operating system.

The Hudl goes on sale in Britain on Sept. 30 and will be manufactured in China by a supplier that also makes well-known products for Blackberry, HP, Microsoft and Sony, it added.

Tesco is attempting to turn around the fortunes of its struggling domestic business, and earlier this month sold most of its loss-making unit Fresh & Easy in an embarrassing exit from the United States.

The supermarket giant had in April taken a £1.2-billion hit from its failed US division, sparking the first drop in annual profits in almost two decades.

In recent times, Tesco has struggled also in Britain owing to a poor economic climate, falling household budgets and fierce price competition from rival supermarket chains like Aldi, Wal-Mart owned Asda and Sainsbury’s.

Tesco, meanwhile, announced in August that it is in exclusive talks over combining its Chinese operations with those of China Resources Enterprise.

The move is in line with Tesco’s strategy of seeking to profit from fast-growing economies, and comes as China seeks to balance export growth with domestic consumption.

Tesco—the world’s third-biggest supermarket group after French rival Carrefour and US retailer Wal-Mart in first place—said the proposed joint venture would create a business with annual sales of about £10 billion.