7-inch tablets to drop to $40

VIA led the way some years ago with pushing for the sub-$100 mark for 7-inch tablets. VIA's WonderMedia offers single chip solutions that have made low price points a reality for whitebox manufacturers. Digitimes now reports that such models will drop to as low as $40 by the third quarter this year.

"The market for 7-inch tablets is seeing intense competition and white-box vendors are expected to further reduce prices for entry-level models to US$40 in the second half of 2013, according to Taiwan-based supply chain sources."

WonderMedia announces new tablet platforms for 7" and 10.1"

With the tablet wars hotting up, not only with variety but price competition, WonderMedia has put together new platforms that boast ergonomic design, front and rear cameras and up to a 1.4Ghz WM8980 ARM Cortex- A9 Dual-Core processor combined with the ARM Mali-400 Dual-Processor GPU.

10.1” and 7” Turnkey Tablet Solution Highlights:

• World class ergonomic design
• Up to a 1.4Ghz WM8980 ARM Cortex- A9 Dual-Core processor
• ARM Mali-400 Dual-Processor GPU
• Supports up to 2GB DDR3 RAM and 16GB NAND Flash
• Thin design of only 4.5mm on top edge and 3mm on side edge
• Ultra-lightweight, only 650g for 10.1” and 370g for 7” designs
• Support for up to 8M rear camera and 2M front camera
• High compatibility with WiFi and 3G Cellular Networks
• Expansive I/O including one Mini HDMI port, one Micro SD port (up to 32GB), 1 USB and Micro-USB OTG port, and one 3.5mm stereo headphone jack
• Up to 8000MAH battery for 10.1” and up to 3400MAH battery for 7” designs
• Simple and efficient manufacturing and assembly process for easier production
• Advanced hardware security engine
• Android 4.2 available

Asus Memo Pad, with VIA WonderMedia, released in India

Around $170 Australian, or 9999 rupee in India, will get you this light-weight tablet from Asus, available in a range of snazzy colors.

The specs are pretty standard for the price point. Considering how well Amazon apps work on Android tablets, this is a great multi-purpose device that is a nice size for an ereader and tablet.

7-inch Whitebox tablet sales still going strong in China

We don't hear all that much about it in Australia these days, but no-name and not-well-known brand 7-inch tablet sales, many of them featuring VIA chips, are still selling like hot-cakes in China.

"As for the tablet market in China, excluding Apple's iPad which enjoys a high popularity in the region, players such as Lenovo, Samsung Electronics and Asustek are all having difficulty competing against the local white-box players due to their rather competitive pricing; however, the first-tier brand vendors still plan to launch 7-inch tablet models with prices around CNY1,000 (US$160) to compete for the market." - Digitimes

With Australia being so close to China, the models are not all that hard to find—eBay is the best place to start.