Reliance Jio is riding high on the success delivering cheap voice and data services as it recently hit the milestone of 100 million subscribers. But it seems that the company is all set to try its luck in the smartphone segment as well. Jio is reportedly working Google to launch a 4G-enabled smartphone to further increase its user base.
As per a report by The Hindu Business Line, both the companies are secretly working together on an affordable smartphone that will work exclusively with Jio’s 4G network. Citing some industry sources, the report further highlights that the smartphone will be launched before the end of this year. The partnership will further allow Jio apps to be more tightly integratedinto the Android platform which will improve the overall performance of the smartphone. “Such a smartphone will help Jio increase data adoption — helping it render movies and music better over its network. It will also improve the overall quality of service delivered on the Jio network,”Sanchit Gogia, CEO at Greyhound Research told the publication.
Interestingly, Reliance Jio is already reported to come up with a 4G-enabled feature phone will cost under Rs 1,500 and now if this report is to believe then this partnership will further help Jio to boost its plan of selling cheaper 4G devices. This will probably help Google to once again bring back the not-so-famous Android One project on the Indian soils and the search engine giant would have an access to a large number of new users.
For those who are not aware, Google started Android One project in 2014, where it partnered with Indian brands like Micromax, Karbonn and Spice to bring affordable smartphones in India. However, the project didn’t go well as the company has accepted and at the end, Google had to drop it.
Lastly, both the companies are also reported to be working together on building up a software for Jio’s smart TV services, which will be launched later this year.