Latest accomplishment of Make in India initiative.
By Dileep Thekkethil
Indian Smartphone manufacturer Ringing Bells has announced that the company will launch the cheapest smartphone in the world, Freedom 251, which will cost under Rs. 500 ($7) this week.
This means that people can now own a smartphone for the cost of a monthly recharge.
The new announcement comes weeks after Indian smartphone market became the second largest, beating the US, which is known for the highly priced iPhones, manufactured by Apple.
It is also interesting to note that major Chinese smartphone makers such as Xiaomi, Lenovo and OnePlus have made their way to India by posing as providers of the cheapest smartphone alternatives. For them, Ringing Bell’s announcement of the under Rs. 500 smartphone comes as a bolt from the blue.
The new smartphone from Ringing Bells is the latest accomplishment of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Make in India project. The Noida-based company was quoted by Times of India saying “empowering India to the last person, transforming India’s growth story,” is their vision.
The official launch of the cheapest smartphone “Freedom 251” ever will be done by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikkar on February 17.
The media invite of Ringing Bells read “The phone will be popularly priced at at Rs 500 and the launch stands as a true testimony of success of the latest initiatives taken by the Government of India.”
According to market analysts, the cheapest smartphone currently available in the Indian costs around Rs. 1,500. Last year, DataWind and Reliance Communications announced that they will team up to bring out the most affordable smartphone at a price as low as Rs. 999, but nothing has materialized as of yet.
Ringing Bells, established in 2015 in Noida claims to in-house product testing capabilities in India and aims at bridging India’s digital divide by offering products with superior value through high quality and best-in-class features at an affordable price.
According to the company it will commence with assembling handsets in Phase-I and later start the full-fledged indigenous development of feature rich handsets. The company has not yet divulged details about the manufacturing, products and pricing.
During the last few months, Ringing Bells had launched a few smartphones, one being a 4G enabled handset which came with a price tag of Rs. 2,999, making it India’s cheapest 4G enabled smartphone. The company has also launched two other smartphones which are currently available in the Indian market.
Social Media Updates
17.2.2016 #ExperienceFreedom pic.twitter.com/9RL7oWkYF1
— Ringing Bells (@RingingB) February 15, 2016
17.2.2016 #ExperienceFreedom
Posted by Ringing Bells on Sunday, February 14, 2016
Posted by Ringing Bells on Tuesday, February 16, 2016
24 Comments
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good
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ghekhas
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Andewadi 1 mobile pahije freedom 251.
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is this true?????? how is it possible to provide a smart phone with such features? Screen guard of a smart phone comes more than Rs 250. Here entire phone is giving only at Rs 251. If its gonna be true then it must the MIRACLE of 2016 in India, or most Miracle Incident of last 10 years.
pls tell actual price of this mobile Freedom 251….
is it true…… wats d feature.. if i order dis and it will not come then…..