HMD Global has confirmed that it will not bring the Nokia 3310 3G variant to India. However, it seems that the brand is gearing up to launch a 4G-enabled feature phone to compete with Reliance JioPhone in the country.
Ajay Mehta, Vice President of HMD Global, says that the brand is considering to enter into 4G-enabled feature phone market. In an interview with ET, he said, “JioPhone is definitely going to have impact on the segment, and there is no question about it. We are watching how this materialises. If we see a viable business proposition, we will definitely consider it and participate.” Previously, Nokia Power User reported that HMD Global is planning to launch the recently launched Nokia 3310 3G feature phone in India.
It seems that Reliance JioPhone will face a stiff competition from many other operators and manufacturers as most of them are working on 4G smartphones or feature phones at ultra-budget price. To start with, Micromax is working on Bharat One feature, which will support 4G VoLTE network. The company Micromax has teamed up with BSNL to launch its entry-level 4G feature phone for attractive offers like free voice and bundled data offers.
On the other hand, Airtel is also gearing up to launch a budget-centric 4G smartphone in the first week of October with a price tag of Rs 2,000. According to a report by 91Mobiles, Airtel’s 4G smartphone will run on Android Nougat 7. It will have 1GB of RAM and is likely to feature a 4-inch display and a 1500 mAh battery.
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Idea Cellular is planning to launch a new smartphone pretty soon for around Rs 2,500. However, unlike JioPhone, they don’t plan to ‘subsidise’ the cost of the handset, instead, it will bundle it different plans.
Meanwhile, Vodafone has partnered with Lava and Intex and is offering a cashback worth Rs 900 on the purchase of a new Lava feature phone, whereas for Intex customers it is offering 50 percent cash back on recharge up to Rs 100 on Intex 2G feature phones.