tech2 News Staff

Reliance Jio is in early talks with Chinese contract manufacturers to introduce a sub Rs 1,500 4G LTE feature phone. According to a report in the Financial Express, Reliance Jio is in talks with Techchain, FortuneShip and Uniscope. According to a report in the Economic Times Spreadtrum Communications is promoting concepts of phones with partners, and aims to reduce the price of 4G feature phones by at least half.

Current 4G feature phones in the market are available at around the Rs 3,000 price point. A few of the Lyf Flame 4G smartphones are actually available for less than Rs 3,000. About 55 percent of the mobile phone market in India is still made up of feature phones, and introducing a cheap 4G feature phone would put Reliance Jio in a position to capture a significant portion of the market. Sub Rs 2,000 4G feature phones are expected from domestic smartphone manufacturers Micromax and Intex by June.

It is unclear what kind of contract will be in place for the manufacturing of the 4G feature phones. Currently, Reliance Jio initially imports the smartphones with the understanding that the manufacturer will eventually start making the phones in India. Spreadtrum Communications has enjoyed a two year partnership with Reliance Industries, and its technologies are used in the affordable Flame 5 smartphone.

Disclaimer: Reliance Jio is owned by Reliance Industries, who also own Network18, the publisher of Firstpost and tech2.