Mukesh Ambani-led energy-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) is planning to launch fourth generation or 4G-enabled entry-level smartphones for as less as Rs 2,000, bettering the promise of launching such devices for less than Rs 4,000 during RIL's AGM in May.
These entry-level smartphones with inbuilt Jio apps will be sold under the in-house brand 'ReConnect' and will be sold through the network of Reliance Retail, the retailing arm of RIL. The idea is replicate the success of 'Monsoon Hungama', when Reliance Communications (now owned by Anil Ambani) gave away mobile connections along with mobile handsets for just Rs 501 during 2003-2004 to capture the mass market.
Reliance Jio, the telecommunications arm of RIL, targets to corner 10 crore of the 90 crore consumers in the world's fastest growing mobile market. "We want the entire range of smartphones to be available for the consumers to choose from. Starting from entry-level smartphones for Rs 2,000 to iPhones for Rs 20,000. There will be various price points to meet the needs of all the consumers," a Reliance Jio official told TOI on the condition of anonymity.
Reliance Jio is working with 24 handsets makers and five chipmakers to launch the entire range of devices at all price points. A mail sent to RIL remained unanswered till the time of going to print. "The idea is not to make profits on selling handsets. We will sell them at 'no-profit, no-loss' basis and will not subsidize the handsets. We want to ensure that the entire ecosystem of devises are available before the commercial launch," Anshuman Thakur, head of business strategy development at Reliance Jio, had said after RIL's Q2 results in July.
Reliance Jio set to disrupt the Indian telecommunications market with the launch of its 4G mobile telephony services across the country in December. The company is planning to use the network of its retail stores to hawk the smartphones. Reliance Digital has over 1,300 retail outlets across the country
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