Reliance JioPhone was launched with great expectations by Mukesh Ambani. With huge demand, the servers went down for a long time during the pre-order stage. The JioPhone has been sold at Rs 0. However, you need to pay Rs. 500 during booking and balance after collection of the phone from the retail store.
Possible upcoming Android phone
According to FactorDaily, the company has reportedly stopped the production of JioPhone to pave way for an Android smartphone. There were reports that Reliance will resume preorders after Diwali and nothing has been announced so far. The claim made by the company to manufacture five million JioPhone during the launch hasn’t worked out well.
Lack of apps
The main reason behind the sudden decision is due to lack of apps for the KaiOS, which is bundled with Reliance JioPhone. However, the company sources reveal that developers are working on to develop exclusive apps for the feature phone. The company is in talks with Facebook and Google to develop apps for the JioPhone. It remains to be seen as to how users will work with the small display.
Budget phones
After the launch of Reliance JioPhone, several mobile service providers such as Vodafone and Airtel have joined hands with each other for the budget-friendly smartphones. Initially, Reliance Jio is gearing up to deliver the ambitious JioPhone to small towns and villages followed by metros. The company is currently on a manufacturing spree with a total production of 10 million units.
During the talks with Google, Reliance had reportedly asked the search-engine giant to decrease the royalty for the Android platform. That said, customers are strongly inclined towards Android because of the presence of several apps. The Ambani-owned company has bundled exclusive apps such as JioTV, JioMusic, JioXpressNews, JioMoney and much more with the recently launched JioPhone.
Till today, there is no concrete explanation from the company about the actual sales and revenue from the JioPhone. We don’t have any confirmation about whether the company is willing to launch an Android-based JioPhone or a full-fledged smartphone.