Tesco to launch own-brand smartphone this year

Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, will launch its first own-brand smartphone by the end of the year, building on the success of the Hudl tablet it launched last year, it said on Tuesday.

Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, will launch its first own-brand smartphone by the end of the year, building on the success of the Hudl tablet it launched last year, it said on Tuesday.

A spokesman for the firm said the Tesco smartphone would run on Google's Android software and would be pre-installed with Tesco services.

Tesco has sold over 500,000 Hudl tablets and plans to launch a second version later this year.

Last month the firm's chief executive Philip Clarke vowed to win back shoppers with millions of pounds of price cuts after posting a second year of falling profits.