On Monday, billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s telecom arm Reliance Jio announced a 4G feature phone priced at 999 rupees ($12.19).
Jio, which notably upset the Indian telecom business in the last decade by launching low-price plans, will provide entry-level phones with internet services like digital payment to reach individuals who have not yet switched to smartphones.
“There are still 250 million mobile phone users in India who remain ‘trapped’ in the 2G era,… at a time when the world stands at the cusp of a 5G revolution,” Reliance Jio chairman Akash Ambani said.
Jio has 439 million telecom users, far ahead of Vodafone Idea (VODA.NS) and Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS).
After the tariff disruption 2016, Jio launched the 4G JioPhone smartphone at 6,499 rupees in 2021. A market survey by IIFL Securities in May found that despite a price decrease, sales have slowed.
Counterpoint Research shows India sells less than 1% of 4G feature phones.
“Feature phone to smartphone transition has slowed down due to high learning curve for a lot of rural Indian users and Jio Bharat aims to bridge that gap,” said Counterpoint Research analyst Tarun Pathak.
Feature phones have more features than basic phones but fewer than smartphones.
“4G is still a significant opportunity in India considering the 5G devices remain elusive from the sub-10,000 rupee segment… and will also help Jio in giving consumers a taste of its services ecosystem,” Pathak added.
The company said the beta trial for the first 1 million JioBharat phones will begin on July 7 in 6,500 Indian tehsils.
Last year, parent Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) announced it was collaborating with Google to create an affordable 5G smartphone but has not released any updates.
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