Budget supermarket Aldi is to restock its cut-price tablet computer that sold out last year, the company has announced.
The Medion LifeTab E7318 will go on sale again at the end of March, in direct competition to Tesco and Argos, who have also released their own tablets in the last 12 months.
Priced at £79.99, the LifeTab undercuts Tesco's popular Hudl by £40, and Aldi revealed it has doubled the storage space of the LifeTab to 16GB; matching Hudl for the first time. The launch is the latest move in a high street price war as chains fight to get a foothold in a growing tablet market that is dominated by Apple and Google.
Aldi unveiled the LifeTab in 2013 after Tesco announced it would be entering the market with the £119.99 Hudl, having already ventured into smartphones with Tesco Mobile. Argos has also since followed with its own budget device.
Above: With a seven inch screen the LifeTab is in direct competition with products from big name brands like Amazon and Google, as well as the Hudl, which was well received by industry reviewers upon its launch.
Market research firm IDC said in 2013 tablets accounted for almost 42% of the devices shipped, and expects them to overtake desktop and laptop sales by 2015. This popularity has been driven by Apple's iPad, however the cheapest version of their device - the iPad mini, costs £249, almost £170 more than the LifeTab.
The trend began with the Amazon Kindle Fire, launched in Europe in 2012 as an extension of the company's Kindle eReader that has led to digital books sales overtaking those of print in the UK, according to the retailer.
Amazon launched the Kindle Fire for under £100, and Google's Nexus 7 is available for £199, but high street stores have looked to undercut these prices further to take advantage of the growing demand for tablet computers.
Aldi declared that it was bringing back the LifeTab 'by popular demand', and that once the stock that goes on sale on March 27 is gone there would be no more available.
Tesco has also confirmed that the second generation of the Hudl will arrive in 2014, describing it as an 'enhanced version'.