Eyeing fortune in feature phone pie

With slower than expected growth in smartphone penetration, operators and OEMs are joining hands to provide affordable mobile devices with attractive offers

Feature phones in India are on a comeback trail after being written off only a few quarters ago by the original equipment makers (OEMs) as well as telecom operators. With slower than expected growth in smartphone penetration (despite affordable 4G devices and lower data tariffs), the industry’s bet on the smartphone segment appears to have gone wrong. The entry of Reliance Jio changed the industry dynamics quickly and forced OEMs and incumbent operators to shift their goalposts. Having acquired a significant chunk of data users (smartphone consumers) with its aggressive pricing strategy, Jio is now looking to expand its subscriber