Quite inexplicably, the Indian government is keen on launching a sub-$100 smartphone in the market. This follows the equally baffling sales numbers achieved by the over-rated and under-tested Aakash tablet and its various avatars. Well, when a product has the backing of a publicity machinery as big as a country’s government, it’s probably naïve to expect anything less than millions of people rushing to order such a device.
The decision to sell the sub-$100 handset in India is explained to fulfill two ‘noble’ plans, though we will undoubtedly be bumping into other less virtuous causes along the way. Firstly, The Economic Times reports a telecom department officer of high ranking to have said that a smartphone is more of a needed ‘instrument of empowerment’ than a want. The plan is to make such gadgets and the facilities accessible through them more affordable to the general populace.
Low cost hardware – check. The next thing is to bring broadband service to the masses. The government will have that covered with the Rs 20,0000 crore national fiber optic network (NOFN) project which is chalked to be set up by early 2014. Data connectivity – check. Voter affection – check. Never mind that the Aakash tablet show was riddled with complaints about poor (or virtually non-existent, coming from our first-hand experience) customer service and hardware troubles.
Going by the current value of the rupee against the dollar, $100 equals to Rs 6110. If a low cost phone is indeed on the charts, let’s hope the government is talking about something way below that price. For the budget-minded consumer, other companies already have wallet-friendly offerings lined up for consideration. The Videocon A24 is pegged at Rs 4,700, Karbonn’s Smart A1 Star and A5 Star are nailed at tags reading below Rs 4,000 and the Intex Cloud X3 can be grabbed for Rs 3,790.
The proposal for the cheap smartphone by the Indian government is touted to have been put forth at an official meeting on July 29th. There’s no word on when the device is anticipated to hit the market though.