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“The VoLTE feature phone could launch as early as next month”
Last month, we reported that Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio would be launching two VoLTE-capable feature phones in the country. Today, we have learnt from our source that the phones will be launched under Reliance Retail's smartphone brand, LYF, and not with Jio’s moniker as was speculated earlier.
Our source has further indicated that the higher-end variant will carry a sticker price of Rs 2,369. While the company is expected to launch two feature phones – one powered by a Qualcomm 205 chipset, and other with a Spreadtrum processor, we can't confirm which chipset will be powering this version. In our previous report, we mentioned that the manufacturing cost for the Spreadtrum-powered feature phone is around $27 (~Rs 1,730), while the Qualcomm 205-equipped phone costs around $28 (~Rs 1,800) to make. The high MRP of Rs 2,369 could be attributed to the recent implementation of GST, but it's likely that the phone will retail for a lower price.
To recap, the LYF feature phone will feature a screen size of 2.4-inches. For memory, it will offer 512MB RAM and 4GB of expandable ROM, which concurs with our previous report. The phone will be fuelled by a 2,000mAh battery. It will also offer a VGA camera at the front for video calling purposes.
While the launch date for the phone isn’t confirmed yet, our source indicates that it could be as early as next month. With these VoLTE feature phones, Jio will get a much-needed push to reach more subscribers, considering that the proliferation of 4G smartphones is still low in India.
With inputs from Mukesh Singh