Reliance hopes its smartphone success will continue with its Rs 15,000 laptop
For affordable 4G data plans and free voice services in 2016, Jio, a Reliance Telecoms division, is credited with upending the second-largest mobile market in the world. It followed that up the previous year with the $81 4G JioPhone.
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According to two insiders with direct knowledge of the situation, Reliance Jio will soon release a laptop for under Rs 15,000 ($184)—one of the lowest prices on the market in India—in an effort to build on the success of its low-cost phone.
For affordable 4G data plans and free voice services in 2016, Jio, a Reliance Telecoms division, is credited with upending the second-largest mobile market in the world. It followed up with the 4G JioPhone that costs $81 last year.
According to the sources, a consumer launch is envisaged within the next three months. Customers including schools and government institutions would be able to purchase the laptop, to be known as JioBook, this month. A 5G-capable version is expected to follow, just like with the JioPhone.
One of the insiders told Reuters that this will rival the success of JioPhone.
Since the launch preparations have not been made public, the sources declined to give their names. A request for comment was not answered by Jio, the largest telecom provider in India with more than 420 million subscribers.
According to Counterpoint Research, the JioPhone has been the most popular sub-$100 smartphone in India for the past three quarters, representing a fifth of that market. 9% of the country's smartphone sales come from this market category.
The sources stated that JioBook will use the JioOS operating system and that some Microsoft apps will also be available. According to them, Qualcomm chips built on Arm Ltd. technology will be used.
The laptop will be in direct competition with a few models from Acer, Lenovo, and the Indian company Lava in that price range.
However, it might encounter some opposition in a nation where laptops running Microsoft Windows are the norm.
"The adoption will face difficulties with user awareness. Non-Windows (operating system) is also disappointing "Tarun Pathak, a counterpoint analyst, remarked.
In India, where 14 million laptops are sold yearly, HP and Dell now hold a monopoly on the market. Pathak predicts that the addition of JioBook may increase that market's size by 15%.
According to one of the sources, Flex, a local contract manufacturer, would produce the JioBook, with Jio hoping to sell "hundreds of thousands" of them by the end of March.
In 2020, Jio raised about $22 billion from international investors like KKR & Co Inc and Silver Lake. Jio is also marketing the laptop as an alternative to tablets for out-of-office business personnel.
