Indian Company Debuts an Impressive $4 Smartphone
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Freedom 251, the ultra-cheap Indian-made smartphone that many thought would fail to ever hit the market, is slated to be shipped to customers who preordered the device beginning on June 30. Ringing Bells, the Indian company responsible for manufacturing the world’s cheapest smartphone announced that they were operating at a loss, losing approximately $2 on each of the 200,000 handsets that is due to be shipped.
Priced at 251 rupees, which converts roughly to $4, the Freedom 251 provides a lot of bang for the buck and comes equipped with specifications that are impressive in light of its low price point. The Android smartphone features a 5.1-inch screen and two cameras, with an 8-megapixel camera on the rear and a 3.2-megapixel selfie-cam in front. The handheld, which comes in black or white models, runs on a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor and provides 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage which can be upgraded to 32GB via a microSD card.
According to the BBC, the Freedom 251, which can support just a few applications, functions reasonably as a smartphone, handling rudimentary tasks such as web browsing, email, and music playing.
Since its outset, Ringing Bells has weathered allegations of fraudulent marketing, with many accusing it of being incapable of delivering the millions of devices it says it can. While the announcement of the first set of shipments has dispelled some of these misgivings, Ringing Bells CEO and founder, Mohit Goel, is under intense pressure to manufacture and deliver handsets to the millions have registered online. There is also the outstanding issue of whether the company will be profitable, as it is currently losing money on each phone it sells.
India is the world’s second largest mobile market, and continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Goel’s initiative to build low-cost smartphones seeks to address the important problem of bridging the digital divide in India and ushering millions more of its citizens into the digital age. Whether or not Ringing Bells can deliver on its outsized promise is still an open question.
