After a year of announcement, Reliance JioPhone Next is set for a grand launch on September 10, 2021.
In 44th Reliance AGM, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman – Reliance Industries Limited, has spilt many beans about Reliance JioPhone Next, albeit refrained from disclosing the price of JioPhone Next. However, considering Reliance’s style of working, strategies employed in the past to penetrate the market, and new information about the JioPhone Next revealed during the AGM it’s quite clear that Reliance is aiming to capture a sizeable share of the 4G smartphone market of India in a very short span of time.
Before we discussed that in length, let us have a look at some of the important announcements related to JioPhone Next that were made during the just-concluded Reliance AGM.
JioPhone Next: The Big Picture
- Reliance has announced that the upcoming JioPhone Next is developed in collaboration with Google.
- The ultra-affordable JioPhone Next would be an Android-powered smartphone.
- Unlike all other Android OEMs, the OS of JioPhone Next has been extremely optimised to let users have a smooth experience.
- JioPhone Next will offer cutting edge features like Voice Assistance, Automatic read-aloud of screen text, language translation, a smart camera with AI technology and a lot of other exciting features that a user can expect in his smartphone.
- Reliance has planned to penetrate other emerging markets with JioPhone Next after tasting success in India.
- The launch of Jionext Phone would take place on September 10, 2021.
- Mukesh Ambani aims to make India a ‘2G mukt‘ nation with the launch of JioPhone Next.
JioPhone Next Price: Eyes On 4G Market in India
The price of JioPhone Next is currently anyone’s guess. As JioPhone Next is just little over 2 months away from the launch, people have already started discussing about the pricing strategy that Reliance could opt to give other smartphone manufacturers, targeting entry and budget segment, run for their money.
Until the beginning of Reliance 44th AGM, many websites reported the announcement possibility of the Jio 5G phone. However, after the AGM it became immediately clear that Reliance is not looking beyond 4G in India when it comes to the smartphone.
Reliance is well known to employ aggressive pricing strategy to penetrate a new market deeply in a very short span of time. The meteoric rise of Jio to become India’s leading telecom provider in just 4 years is driven by the aggressive pricing strategy that completely changed the telecom market dynamics. There is no reason to believe that Reliance will make any exception when it comes to defining pricing strategy for ultra-affordable JioPhone Next.
The decision to launch JioPhone Next with 4G capabilities only is a very calculated move made by Mukesh Ambani. India has 1.18 billion mobile subscribers, and 39% – 460 million to be precise – of those subscriptions are still hooked with GSM/2G/3G network.
Reliance wants to kill two birds with one stone; With the jaw-dropping pricing strategy for JioPhone Next and having over 400 million users on its 4G network, Reliance has set its eyes to bring the maximum number of those 460 million people on its network.
The first glimpse of the phone clearly indicates that JioNext Phone is not going to target users that fall under the mid-range smartphone segment. With a single rear camera and not-so-stylish look, JioPhone Next aims to become the first choice of first-time smartphone users.
Reliance has remained tight-lipped about the price of JioPhone Next but considering all the above factors it’s safe to say that the price tag of JioPhone Next would definitely change the equations in entry-segment and budget-segment of the Indian smartphone industry. Ultimately, a pocket-friendly JioPhone Next will help Reliance cement its dominant position in the telecom segment and become a launchpad for a fleet of other services and apps Jio already has or have planned to launch during this year.
Keeping all the factors in mind, can you guess what would be the best rice of JioNext Phone? Do let us know in the comment section below.
