Few would have thought that a smartphone can have a price tag of just ₹251, but domestic handset maker Ringing Bells made that a reality on Wednesday by launching the world’s cheapest mobile handset, smart or otherwise.
Bookings for ‘Freedom 251’ will start at 6 am on February 18 and close on February 21 at 8 pm.
Deliveries, however, will be made only in June.
The phone supports 3G and has a 1.3 Ghz Quadcore processor, 8GB internal memory (expandable to 32GB) and 1GB of RAM. It has a 4-inch screen, 3.2MP rear and 0.3MP front camera.
No sooner had the countdown for the launch of Freedom 251 begun than red flags started being raised by a section of the industry.
The Indian Cellular Association (ICA) wrote to Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and IT, stating that even the Bill of Material of a product like this when sourced from the cheapest supply chain would cost at least around $40 (₹2,700)at the current exchange rate.
And the retail price, by including duties/taxes, distribution and retail margins, should be at least $60 (₹4,100) even if the phone is sold at an artificially-controlled price.
“Even if the product is sold at lower margins in an e-commerce-type sale, the final consumer price cannot come below $52-$55 (₹3,500-3,800),” said ICA National President Pankaj Mohindroo.