The aggressive push of brand vendors such as Amazon, Google, Samsung Electronics and Acer, into the 7-inch tablet market has forced China-based white-box players to further reduce their product prices in order to maintain their competitiveness, according to sources from channel retailers.

　　The sources pointed out that entry-level ARM-based processor solutions from China-based chipmakers and help from China's supply chain are enabling the white-box vendors' competition in the tablet market through price cuts. Low-price devices are also stimulating overall demand in the tablet market.

　　In Taiwan, Acer's and Asustek Computer's dual-core 7-inch tablets are currently priced below NT$5,000 (US$169), while models from Micro-Star International (MSI) are under NT$4,000. To beat the brand vendors, some white-box players are offering tablets at around NT$2,000.

　　In the US, white-box players are more aggressive in pricing. At Walmart, a major channel retailer in the country, white-box vendor Xelio's 7-inch model is priced at US$49; an 8-inch Nextbook, featuring Android 4.1, 8GB storage, 1.5GHz dual-core ARM A9 processor, is priced at US$99; and a Double Power 9-inch device, coming with a keyboard and a protective cover, sells for US$89.

　　Walmart is currently selling 172 different tablet models, and among them, there are 51 sub-US$100 models, showing white-box devices' strong penetration into the tablet market, the sources pointed out.

　　IDC's figures also have showed that the non-top-5 brand vendors' combined market share rose from 26% in the second quarter of 2012 to about 39% in the second quarter of 2013.