With over 500 million smartphone users in the country, India is one of the largest smartphone consumers in the world. However, there are still more than 350 million users in India who are still using multifunction phones. To answer them and grab a piece of the shrinking pie, Airtel plans to launch affordable 4G smartphones in India for the masses. Airtel is in talks with local phone makers to launch its own affordable 4G smartphone, according to a new report. It also appears that Airtel is exploring a plan to offer locked and unlocked versions of smartphones, which would be a first for India. If this turns out to be true, users will be able to buy smartphones as a monthly rental instead of upfront.
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(Image credit: Future) The telecom carrier is said to be considering a slice of the pie of what Jio and Google have planned. For those who don't know, at the Reliance 2020 AGM a few months back, Jio announced that it will bring affordable 4G/5G smartphones to the Indian market, which will cater to local needs. And the affordable phones will run on an Android-based operating system. It will be an entry level smartphone with optimizations of the operating system and Play Store to make them accessible even for less powerful devices. The phone will also include a local ecosystem that ensures devices with apps and services from the Play Store are accessible to all users. With this program, the company said that it was trying to create "2G-mukth Bharat". (2G Free India) With a program almost inspired by Jio-Google, telecom operator Airtel is also looking to bring its 2G/3G users on the 4G smartphone bandwagon. A recent report also suggests that Jio is targeting Rs 10 crore smartphones in India. Via: The Economic Times