In the country, 220 million people are using feature phones. They want to shift to smartphones. But budget and expensive handsets are major obstacles. There is a difference of ?4-6 thousand between a reliable smartphone and an entry-level feature phone. According to experts, with rising memory chip prices, the difference could become 6-8 thousand. According to Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, expensive smartphones are a challenge for Digital India. The price of a basic smartphone is 30-40% of a user’s monthly income. This is many times more than the affordability standard of 5%. Scindia has suggested that the PLI scheme should be taken beyond Make in India towards the direction of ‘Affordable in India’. Market Share Smartphone 7 times more expensive than feature phone The country’s cheapest 4G smartphone is the itel Zeno at ?5,799. Meanwhile, the Lava Shark at ?8,999 is the cheapest 5G smartphone option. In comparison, a 2G feature phone like the Snexlan Guru 301 is available for just ?649 and a 4G feature phone like the Carbon K1 for only ?835. Prices will increase due to expensive memory chips According to Tarun Pathak, Director at Counterpoint Research, upgrading from a 4G feature phone to a 4G smartphone requires an additional expenditure of ?4 thousand. If a customer chooses a 5G phone, the burden increases to up to 6 thousand rupees. With memory shortage causing price increases, buying a smartphone will become even more difficult.
