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Tesco To Launch Own Brand Smartphone This Year

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Tesco To Launch Own Brand Smartphone This Year

After accumulating over half a million sales of its first ever own-brand tablet, the Hudl, supermarket giant Tesco is to expand its device line-up by launching a high-powered Android smartphone.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, chief executive Philip Clarke confirmed that the company's upcoming handset will feature hardware comparable to Samsung's Galaxy S5 and, like the Hudl, come preloaded with Tesco apps and services. 

Speaking of the tablet, Clarke also said Tesco will release a refreshed version of its discount slate, appropriately named the Hudl 2, in September. While the tablet has been priced at the low end of the market at £119 (even less if with ClubCard vouchers), Tesco's smartphone is expected to command a higher price to match its specifications. That might make the handset less of an impulse buy, but Tesco says it will still price the handset aggressively, allowing shoppers to pop a couple of Android devices into their trolley alongside their bread and milk.

In what was a wide-ranging interview with BBC 5 Live's 'Wake up to Money' programme this morning, Clarke revealed said that he would like to remain in the Tesco hot seat for a "few more years".

"I'm 54. I've been at it 40 years. I think normally in Britain, people;e like me retire at 60. That gives me six years," said Clarke.

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"I'm not planning on going anywhere in the next few years. I'm very focused now on bringing new Tesco to every neighborhood of the UK in the next three years."

© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine by Enda Dowling

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