JioPhone brings back the focus on feature phones

JioPhone's entry has brought the focus back to feature phones. The Reliance phone comes effectively free of cost to the consumer. It could entice a large chunk of people who hardly access Internet or are wary of the delicate features of smartphones and the extra expenses on data, to Reliance Jio Infocomm, the only network it supports.

For India's telecom carriers, voice services bring 80 Paise in every rupee they make. Jio's mobile services with free voice calls and dirt-cheap data tariffs have already roiled the industry with rivals taking a huge dent in their financial performance. The prospect of the aggressive rival eating further into their low-paying but large-volume customer base with a handset that costs almost nothing to the user is the latest worry.

Chinese phone-maker itel and home bred Lava and Intex have entered into deals with Vodafone India and introduced bundled voice plans and cashback with 2G feature phones. At the lower end, the device becomes effectively free as the nation's second-largest telecom company offers free talk-time to cover for the cost of the device. In fact, online movie and event ticketing platform BookMyShow is developing an app for JioPhone, the newly-launched 4G feature phone from the Reliance Industries that will reach consumers starting this Navratri, and has triggered the creation of the new segment. The phone received over 6 million orders when the company's retail unit opened a booking window for a day and half late last month.

But the key apps are expected to be there on feature phone. Amazon, for instance, already has a light version of its app which can run on feature phones having low memory. The rival Flipkart has a native app at mobile Web page that can be downloaded on the home screen and sits there like an app which can be used on low-cost smartphones and feature phones. On its phone, Reliance is pre-loading apps offering video, movies, music and games.

Added to this mix are Facebook and YouTube apps, with WhatsApp expected to come in after sales begin this month. To run complex apps, feature phone will require larger memory and faster processing capabilities than those mostly available in such devices now.
 

The companies like Qualcomm, which is supplying for JioPhone and Spreadtrum, are working to cater to this demand. Qualcomm is working with nearly a dozen device and design makers and carrier partners on supplying chips for feature phones.

The Chinese semiconductor company Spreadtrum is in talks with several Indian and Chinese handset makers operating in India to supply a chip that it has made for 4G feature phones.

US-based Qualcomm has also dedicated some resources towards developing a platform for 4G feature phones, primarily for the Indian market, underlining the creation of a new segment among the mobile device that till now offered basic Internet capabilities and is generations behind the current crop of smartphones.
 

Local brands Micromax, Karbonn and Intex are learnt to have already readied their own 4G feature phone. But they aren't immediately launching their products as some support by telecom carriers is needed to make it work for them with Reliance heavily subsidising the JioPhone.