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NEW DELHI: A 4G feature phone<\/a>, or basic mobile phone, costing as little as Rs 1,500 may soon be a reality. Chinese mobile chip maker Spreadtrum Communications<\/a> said it is working on reducing starting prices by at least half from the current levels, a development experts said may deter many consumers from shifting to smartphones.\n
“We are working on a technology that makes a Rs 1,500 4G<\/a> feature phone viable. We have already started concept promotions to our partners,” Spreadtrum Communications<\/a>’ country head Neeraj Sharma<\/a> told ET.
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Prices of 4G<\/a> feature phones from home-grown manufacturers such as Lava<\/a> and Micromax<\/a> start at about Rs 3,000. Both these handset makers, besides Karbonn<\/a>, plan to reduce prices of such phones further.
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\nReliance Jio Infocomm, a pure-play 4G operator, is also planning to bring in affordable 4G VoLTE feature phones through its sister retail firm that may be priced under Rs 1,500, according to industry executives aware of the matter.
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\nShanghai-based Spreadtrum Communications, which has seen a steady growth in baseband chip segment, competes with mobile chip makers such as MediaTek and Qualcomm. Chipset is an integral part of a mobile handset that accounts for a major price share of a device.
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Spreadtrum Communications has a two-year old partnership with Reliance Industries and has powered its affordable LYF Flame 5 smartphone<\/a>. It has also powered Lava M1<\/a> 4G-enabled feature phone, which is priced at Rs 3,599.
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The company said that it takes nearly six months between a technology reaching readiness and devices<\/a> hitting the market shelves.
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Financial services firm JP Morgan<\/a> in its recent finding said that feature phones with 4G capabilities will remain popular in the Indian market in 2017, in part due to the boost from faster-than-expected 4G network roll-outs.
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\nSharma said it will be interesting to see how the operators fine-tune their strategy at a time when the market is skewed towards data play as voice segment has become stagnant.
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“The market has completely shifted from 3G<\/a> to 4G in the last six months and with a disruptive technology, vendors should attune their go-to market strategies,” he said.
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Sharma said LTE feature phones<\/a> offering additional value should be packaged in a more attractive way and targeted to be sold in tier III locations and rural areas in tandem with growing data market.
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Handset makers are focusing on low-cost 4G feature-rich phones to ride on the growing opportunity offered by Jio’s disruptive data pricing and aggressive plans by rivals Bharti Airtel<\/a>, Vodafone India<\/a> and Idea Cellular.<\/a> \n<\/body>","next_sibling":[{"msid":58464280,"title":"Penalty on telcos: Trai reply to DoT this month in Reliance Jio case","entity_type":"ARTICLE","link":"\/news\/penalty-on-telcos-trai-reply-to-dot-this-month-in-reliance-jio-case\/58464280","category_name":null,"category_name_seo":"telecomnews"}],"related_content":[],"msid":58464054,"entity_type":"ARTICLE","title":"Soon 4G feature phone at Rs 1,500 to hit stores","synopsis":"'We are working on a technology that makes a Rs 1,500 4G feature phone viable'","titleseo":"telecomnews\/soon-4g-feature-phone-at-rs-1500-to-hit-stores","status":"ACTIVE","authors":[{"author_name":"Muntazir Abbas","author_link":"\/author\/479234376\/muntazir-abbas","author_image":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/authorthumb\/479234376.cms?width=100&height=100","author_additional":{"thumbsize":true,"msid":479234376,"author_name":"Muntazir Abbas","author_seo_name":"muntazir-abbas","designation":"Editor","agency":false}}],"Alttitle":{"minfo":""},"artag":"ETTelecom","artdate":"2017-05-01 22:30:09","lastupd":"2017-05-01 22:30:09","breadcrumbTags":["4g feature phone","Spreadtrum Communications","LTE feature phones","Relaince Jio","Idea cellular.","Devices","Neeraj Sharma","Vodafone India","Karbonn","lava","4G","Micromax","JP Morgan","Bharti Airtel","Smartphone","3G","Lava M1"],"secinfo":{"seolocation":"telecomnews\/soon-4g-feature-phone-at-rs-1500-to-hit-stores"}}" data-authors="[" muntazir abbas"]" data-category-name="" data-category_id="" data-date="2017-05-01" data-index="article_1">
新德里:一个4 g功能手机或基本手机,售价只要1500卢比可能很快会成为现实。中国移动芯片制造商展讯通信表示,它正致力于减少至少一半的价格开始从当前水平,开发专家称可能会阻止许多消费者转向智能手机。“我们正在研究一种技术,使1500卢比4 g功能手机的可行性。我们已经开始概念推广我们的合作伙伴,”展讯通信”国家的头Neeraj Sharma说告诉等。
的价格4 g功能手机从本土制造商等熔岩和Micromax从大约3000卢比。这两个手机制造商,除了Karbonn,计划进一步降低价格的手机。
依赖Jio Infocomm,赤手空拳的4 g运营商还计划带来负担得起的4 g回功能手机零售公司,通过其妹妹可能定价在1500卢比,据行业高管们意识到这件事。
上海展讯,基带芯片市场稳步增长,与联发科和高通等移动芯片制造商竞争。芯片组是不可分割的一部分,一个手机,占一个主要设备价格中所占的份额。
展讯与信实工业有一个两岁的伙伴关系,并驱动其负担得起LYF火焰5智能手机。它还提供动力熔岩M14 g功能手机,售价为3599卢比。
该公司表示,需要近6个月之间的技术准备和设备冲击市场的货架上。
金融服务公司摩根大通(JP Morgan)在最近发现说,功能手机与4 g功能仍将于2017年在印度市场受欢迎,部分原因在于4 g网络部署速度快于预期的提振。
Sharma说,这将是有趣的,看看运营商调整他们的策略在市场偏向数据扮演语音段变得停滞不前。
"市场已经完全转移3 g在过去六个月4 g,颠覆性技术,供应商应该调他们的市场策略,”他说。
夏尔马说LTE功能手机提供额外的值应该是打包在一个更有吸引力的方式和有针对性的销售在第三层的位置和农村地区与日益增长的数据市场。
手机制造商都在关注低成本4 g功能丰富的手机骑Jio颠覆性的数据提供的增长机会定价和竞争对手咄咄逼人的计划Bharti Airtel,沃达丰印度和知道细胞。
