India is the world's second-largest mobile market. – Reuters pic, February 17, 2016.A little-known Indian company will on Wednesday launch a smartphone believed to be the cheapest in the world, targeting a market already dominated by low-cost handsets.
Set to be priced at under 500 rupees (RM31), domestic handset maker Ringing Bells' Freedom 251 smartphone is about one percent of the price of the latest Apple iPhone.
Ringing Bells was set up in September 2015 and began selling mobile phones via its website a few weeks ago under its Bell brand, a spokeswoman said.
"This is our flagship model and we think it will bring a revolution in the industry," she told AFP.
Ringing Bells currently imports parts from overseas and assembles them in India but plans to make its phones domestically within a year, the spokeswoman said.
Cheap smartphone handsets, many of them Chinese-made, are readily available in the Indian market but domestic competitors are making inroads, with models selling for less than US$20 (RM85).
India is the world's second-largest mobile market and notched up its billionth mobile phone subscriber in October, according to the country's telecoms regulator.
But in poorer Indian states such as Bihar, "teledensity" – the penetration of telephone connections for every hundred people – is as low as 54%, with a stark urban-rural divide. – AFP, February 17, 2016.
Comments
Please refrain from nicknames or comments of a racist, sexist, personal, vulgar or derogatory nature, or you may risk being blocked from commenting in our website. We encourage commenters to use their real names as their username. As comments are moderated, they may not appear immediately or even on the same day you posted them. We also reserve the right to delete off-topic comments