Working with Indian telcos to bring more affordable phones: UNISOC

Mobile chipset maker UNISOC today said it is working with a number of telecom operators in India, including Reliance Jio, to bring more affordable handsets for the consumers.

"Three years ago, we started the cooperation with Reliance Jio. We co-designed this concept with Reliance to launch 4G VoLTE smart feature phone.

"Our ultimate goal is to offer a very good user experience to end users in India (at) relatively low cost. To cooperate with operators is a very important goal of our strategy," UNISOC CEO Adam Zeng told reporters here.

He added that in China too, UNISOC (formerly Spreadtrum Communications) works closely with the three major carriers there.

"In India, Reliance and other carriers are our strategic partners. We are going to support them to keep offering better user experience to Indian consumers at relatively low cost," he said.

The company has launched two new chipsets - SC9832E and SC9863 - that have been designed to enable a more seamless user experience for machine learning and augmented reality/virtual reality related applications.

Zeng said the company is in discussions with various handset makers, both Indian and international, to integrate these new chipsets in mobile phones.

These chipsets are expected to be used in handsets priced under USD 190 (about Rs 13,000) that may start rolling out by August-end, he added.

"India is a very important market for us and we are focussed on helping the Indian handset makers bring in products with better features. We are confident that these new additions to our extensive portfolio will be well-received in the market," he said.

Zeng said the company is looking at strengthening its presence in the Indian market. The company, which has about 100 employees in India, including in R&D roles, spends about USD 10 million annually here.

"We are committed to the Indian market and to strengthening our position here. We will invest in various areas, including marketing and building our team here," he said.