After disrupting the telecom market in India with their incredible offers of free calls, free Internet and free SMS, Reliance Jio has now set their aim to disrupt smartphone market as well.
As per unconfirmed reports, Reliance Jio will soon offer 4G VoLTE enabled ‘feature phones’ which will offer free voice calls along with cheap 4G data as they are VoLTE based.
However, it is not clear whether these cheap feature phones will be enabled to browse the Internet like other smartphones or not.
Reliance Jio’s Hardware Disruption This Time
As per available reports, there would be two models of low-cost 4G phones by Jio: Rs 999 and Rs 1500.
Currently, Reliance Lyf Flame 3 is the cheapest 4G smartphone offered by Jio, which is priced at Rs 2,999. Hence, in a way, Jio will break their own price barrier when it comes to selling 4G phones.
Some of the features which this low-cost 4G VoLTE feature phone by Jio shall have:
- Front and rear cameras
- Bundled with apps such as Jio Chat, Live TV, On-Demand entertainment
- Can push for Jio Money wallet
- Free voice calls based on VoLTE
- Will work with the available 4G data plans being offered by Jio
In case normal browsing of Internet is not allowed, then the user will have to use only Jio apps for their daily needs. Thus, in a way, Jio will form their own closed ecosystem of the Internet and its services.
Which Segment Will It Target?
Jio’s low-cost 4G feature phones will most probably target those users who are still buying feature phones, and are wary of buying high price smartphones, forget 4G VoLTE based phones.
As per some market analysts, the branding and advertisement campaign would be delicately targeted only towards feature phone users. Hence, there would be no impact on the smartphone market per se.
And based on the current trends, it seems a logical and valid business proposition. Because in 2016, feature phones’ market share were projected to be more than 50% of the overall phones sold in India. Thus, there are more feature phones sold than smartphones, and precisely this is the reason that Jio wants to target this segment.
Do you think that Jio’s low-cost 4G VolTE smartphones can make a dent in the phone market in India? Do let us know by commenting right here.
