Reliance Jio believed to be working with search giant Google for the development of low-cost 4G VoLTE smartphones. These affordable 4G VoLTE mobiles are supposed to work only on Reliance Jio’s telecom network. According to a Hindu Business Line report, the smartphones will be launched by the end of this year. Also, the two companies are believed to be working on smart TVs. The report cited the industry sources.
Sundar Pichai, CEO at Google had said on his visit to India that the Indian market needs smartphones priced at $30 (roughly Rs 2,000). If the partnership of two companies brings affordable smartphones in the country, then the Google-branding will rally round the Reliance Jio for the sale of its devices to a larger audience. The Jio apps will be pre-installed on these devices which will enhance the Android experience on the devices.
Reliance Jio already has a portfolio of 4G smartphones under the brand, LYF mobiles. The Reliance Jio LYF has handsets with starting price of Rs 2,999 which goes up to Rs 19,999. On the other hand, Google had tried to get into budget smartphone segment with its Android One project which offered smartphones just for Rs 6,500. However, the project didn’t perform well in India as the promised regular updates on smartphones were never delivered which was expected.
To recall, the Android One smartphones were launched in September 2014 in India. The phones featured budget specifications with pure Android experience. The Android One mobiles were manufactured by Micromax, Spice, and Karbonn and were promised to offer regular updates from Google to the next level of Android OS.
Reliance Jio is currently one of the largest telcos in the country with about 100 million subscribers on its 4G network. With Google-Jio association, the Indian consumers will get a pure Android experience at an affordable price. The smartphones will also come pre-loaded with Jio exclusive applications like JioTV, JioMusic, JioMags, and JioCinema.
The report further added that the Reliance Jio-Google association will have a separate partnership to expand software for smart TV services.
