Tesco to Launch Smartphone by the end of the Year

After the success of its Hudl tablet launched in 2013, the UK’s biggest retailer, Tesco, is to release a Smartphone later this year.The plans were confirmed this month for the own-brand Smartphone. The model would also be pre-installed with Tesco services, including Tesco Bank and online shopping apps. Although the price is yet to be disclosed, the Smartphone is aimed at building on the success of the Hudl, which was priced at £119. Tesco has sold more than 500,000 of the budget tablets, with plans to launch a second version later in 2014.

The supermarket giant’s tech product range is part of a wider turnaround strategy implemented around two years ago by the firm’s Chief Executive, Philip Clarke. The core supermarket business had suffered against a backdrop of a lack of investment, whilst competitors have been eating into its dominant market share.

Mr Clarke vowed to win back shoppers with millions of pounds of price cuts, after the store posted a second year of falling profits in April. Full-year group trading profit fell 6 per cent in Tesco’s last financial year to £3.3 billion with its market share standing at a 10-year low of 28.6 per cent. The supermarket’s focus on securing growth, in addition to tech-based product lines – has result in a return to the United States with its F&F clothing business.