Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal presses for ultra low-cost smartphones
We’ve already seen an ultra low-cost tablet, Aakash, taking the Indian market by storm. So what should we expect next from the manufacturers? An ultra low-cost smartphone? Very likely. Sunil Mittal, chairman & group CEO, Bharti Enterprises, recently said that he wants smartphone price to come down to as low as $50.
This means, smartphone pricing may start at Rs. 2,500, which is half of the current price of the low-cost Android-based phones available in the market. Mittal pointed out that if any product defies pricing logic, it is mobiles. Meanwhile, Sunil Raina, chief marketing officer at Lava says, that bringing down the cost of chipset can facilitate launch of an ultra low-cost smartphones. He highlighted that processors and LCD display panels mainly make the bulk of smartphone cost.
Global research firm In-Stat in one of its reports said that the integration of GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and sometimes FM radio onto a single chip had helped cut costs in 2010. With more innovation from chipset manufacturers in the works, smartphones sales are likely to grow further more. In-Stat in its report predicted that Android will ship 339 million low-end smartphones (under $150 each) by 2015.
Budget smartphones are already doing good in the price-sensitive market like India. With price going even more down, smartphone sales can really witness a major boost in the country.
Source: TOI