Data Wind's Aakash Tablet and Colombia Market Entry
This paper evaluates Data Wind's international business experience as a basis for entering the Colombian market with the Aakash tablet, a $50 device developed in partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology Rajasthan. The paper examines the company's origins, its prior products such as the Pocket Surfer, its manufacturing operations in China, and its government collaboration in India. It argues that while Data Wind demonstrates a genuine international mindset, its limited track record, small sample size of foreign market experience, and the newness of the Aakash itself present significant challenges for a successful Colombian market entry.
- Introduction: The Aakash Tablet and Data Wind: Origins and development of the Aakash tablet
- Data Wind's Background and International Presence: Pocket Surfer history and multi-country operations
- Assessing the Depth of International Experience: Critical evaluation of international experience quality
- The Aakash as a New and Untested Product: Risks of launching an unproven tablet abroad
- Conclusion: Prospects for the Colombia Market: Overall assessment of Colombia market readiness
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its argument in specific, verifiable facts — company history, product names, government contracts — rather than vague generalizations about international business.
- It maintains an honest, balanced tone, acknowledging Data Wind's genuine international mindset while clearly articulating why that mindset does not compensate for limited experience.
- The use of a comparative market analogy (Venezuela vs. Colombia) demonstrates analytical thinking about cultural and political context in market entry decisions.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates critical evaluation of evidence quality, specifically the concept of "sample size" as applied to business case analysis. Rather than simply listing international activities as proof of capability, the author interrogates whether those activities constitute meaningful, transferable experience — a nuanced distinction that strengthens the analytical argument.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by introducing Data Wind and the Aakash's origins, then traces the company's background through the Pocket Surfer and its China manufacturing. It next weighs the significance of that experience against its limitations, introduces the complicating factor of the Aakash being a brand-new product, and closes with an overall judgment about Colombia market readiness. The Works Cited section follows APA-adjacent formatting.
Introduction: The Aakash Tablet and Data Wind
The $50 Aakash tablet was developed through a joint venture between Data Wind and the Indian Institute of Technology Rajasthan. Data Wind is a Canadian company run by Suneet Singh Tuli, a Sikh from Punjab (Kurup, 2011). Although the company has limited experience, it has a global mindset, which will be an asset when entering the Colombian market with the Aakash.
Data Wind's Background and International Presence
Data Wind was founded in 2001 in Montreal. Its primary market prior to the launch of the Aakash was a product called the Pocket Surfer, which was marketed domestically in Canada, in the United States, and in Venezuela (Gregory, 2004). This is not an extensive body of international experience, but the company's presence in the Venezuelan market does prepare it for some of the challenges it can expect in Colombia — a market that is culturally similar to Venezuela but politically different.
In addition to marketing the Pocket Surfer, Data Wind spent several years working on the low-cost tablet project with the Indian government. Data Wind won a contract from India's Ministry of Human Resource Development to work on a project aimed at bringing many Indians into the digital age for the first time (Timmons, 2011). The company also manufactures in China, adding further international experience to its portfolio (Ibid).
Assessing the Depth of International Experience
What this history reveals is that Data Wind is genuinely international in character: it is headquartered in Canada, sells in at least four countries, produces in another, and has developed projects in partnership with the Indian government. This international mindset partially offsets the company's relatively limited track record of foreign market operations. As with any young company, international experience tends to gain value as it accumulates — but mindset alone is not a substitute for experience.
Complicating the assessment is that much of Data Wind's international experience can be characterized as "low-hanging fruit." The owners are of Indian descent, which enabled them to navigate India's complex government networks with relative ease. They are Canadian, so operating in Canada and the United States poses few cultural challenges. Only Venezuela would have represented a genuine test of the company's ability to work in a foreign environment. Arguably, the presence of a socialist government in Venezuela makes that market more difficult to navigate than Colombia. However, modest success in Venezuela constitutes a small sample size from which to gauge the company's readiness to sell the Aakash in Colombia.
Conclusion: Prospects for the Colombia Market
Overall, Data Wind's international experience is difficult to assess because of the small sample size. The company has operated internationally — encompassing both marketing activities and government cooperation in research and development — but it has only existed for approximately ten years and has remained a small company for most of that time. The Aakash represents its first attempt to market a tablet computer, meaning it has no international experience with this product type to draw upon. While Data Wind possesses a clear international outlook, its limited practical experience may constrain its ability to succeed in the Colombian market.
Works Cited
Gregory, S. (2004). Biz briefs: Web on the run. Time Magazine. Retrieved November 27, 2011 from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1009665,00.html
Kurup, S. (2011). We want to target the billion Indians who are cut off. India Times. Retrieved November 27, 2011 from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/special-report/We-want-to-target-the-billion-Indians-who-are-cut-off/articleshow/10284832.cms
The Economist. (2011). Stuck in low gear. The Economist. Retrieved November 27, 2011 from http://www.economist.com/node/21526374
Timmons, H. (2011). Aiming for the other one billion. New York Times. Retrieved November 27, 2011 from http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/aiming-for-the-other-one-billion/?scp=4&sq=Aakash&st=cse
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