The JioPhone from Reliance Jio was a blessing in disguise for people in India who couldn’t afford to upgrade to a 4G smartphone. The feature 4G device is all set to make its comeback to the Indian market in early 2021. Followed by the JioPhone, the entry-level 4G smartphone which Jio and Google are working on is expected to launch for the Indian market. The announcement for the device was made by Mukesh Ambani in the 43rd Annual General Meeting of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) — more details on the story ahead.
JioPhone to Launch Next Quarter
As per a report shared by the Economic Times, Reliance Jio is all set to bring back its feature 4G mobile, JioPhone to the Indian market. For the unaware, earlier this year the device was pulled out of the market by Jio. The company said that it is facing issues with sourcing components for the device.
But now, Jio has partnered with a new supplier and shook hands with a contract manufacturer Flex for making its feature 4G device again. JioPhone was launched back in 2018 in India. It was priced at Rs 1,500.
Given its low pricing and support for 4G network and connectivity, it quickly became a hit amongst the people in the low-income class of India. Because of JioPhone, Reliance Jio became the largest mobile selling company in the country. But when things were going good for the company, because of component scarcity, Jio had to halt its production.
According to a report shared by Counterpoint Research, Reliance Jio sold over 100 million JioPhone devices in the country. This in turn means that 26% of Jio’s total subscriber base use JioPhones.
Looking at the success of the JioPhone, Reliance Jio decided to launch another such device for the Indian market. A while later, the company came up with JioPhone 2. This device was priced at Rs 2,999 and was an upgrade over the JioPhone.
One of the contributing factors behind the success of JioPhone was the refund scheme given to the users. Every user purchasing the device was allowed to return it to the company after 3 years and get a complete refund on their purchase.
Now the device is ready to come back next quarter, which means early 2021 in India. Followed by the comeback of JioPhone, the entry-level 4G smartphone being developed by Jio and Google is expected to launch as well. It will be interesting to see how the market reacts to the comeback of JioPhone when another low cost 4G smartphone from the company is on the brink of launch.
