Freedom 251 not to affect Datawind, says Tuli

"Every month about 2 crore mobile phones are sold in India. The company (Ringing Bells) claims to have 25 lakh bookings and some crore registrations. If the product is actually shipped, the 25 lakh unit will neither affect market nor prospect of our company," Datawind President and CEO Suneet Singh Tuli told reporters here.

He also alleged that the offer to sell mobile phone is just a promotion.

Datawind made the world's cheapest tablet Aakash for the Indian government. It had won the contract to supply 1 lakh units of Aakash tablets priced at USD 49.98 apiece in 2011, translated into a price of Rs 2,276 at that time. The project was then handled by IIT Jodhpur which provided the specifications for the product.

After running into controversies on the quality of product, the project was shifted under IIT Bombay and Datawind was asked to supply better version of the product, Aakash 2, at a price of Rs 2,263 apiece, which is around USD 42 at exchange rate at that time.

Tuli said it is wrong to compare Aakash with Ringing Bells scheme as Aakash was brand owned by Indian government and the product was real.

Questioning the cost of Freedom 251, Tuli said that memory chips used in mobile phones are traded internationally like other commodities and at present 1GB RAM chip costs USD 5.5 or about Rs 370.

"If you buy 10 lakh units then maximum discount one get is of 5-6 per cent. When memory chip promised in the phone (Freedom 251) costs more than the price being offered then there is no way phone can be made for Rs 251 apiece. It is just a donation," Tuli said.

He said that Datawind is planning to launch a smartphone for Rs 1,500, least priced device from its stable, next month but it would also not match the specification promised by Ringing Bells.

Freedom 251 smartphone website down on 2nd day; people face booking issue

 

The smartphone's website is down on day 2 of pre-booking owing to which the excitement around the phone seems to be fizzling out.

When we tried to book the phone through company's website

http://www.freedom251.com/, we were led to the cart page. However, the cart page didn't open despite several attempts.

 

The company has put out the sale date of Freedom 251 smartphone on its website now. It says, “All deliveries will be made by 30th June, 2016 through courier”

The smartphone went on sale at 6 am on Thursday morning but the company had to later stop accepting orders after its website crashed.

Even before the server crashed, many people faced problem in booking the phone because of glitches in the payment window within an hour of opening of the bookings.

Freedom 251, hailed as India's most affordable smartphone was launched at just Rs 251.

The 3G handset, Freedom 251, features a 4-inch display, Qualcomm 1.3-GHz quad-core processor and 1 GB RAM.

The Android Lollipop-based handset has an onboard storage of 8 GB with support for expandable memory of up to 32 GB. It features a 3.2-MP rear and a 0.3-MP front facing camera and a 1,450-mAh battery.

Freedom 251 booking: How are Twitterati Reacting to world's cheapest smartphone

 

Freedom 251' started at 6 AM Thursday but most of the buyers were left frustrated due to inefficiency of the website www.freedom251.com. As per reports, many people faced problem in booking the phone because of glitches in the payment window within an hour of opening of the bookings.

Some major tweets are given below:

Two minutes of silence for those who woke up early in the morning to book#Freedom251 smartphone tongue emoticon pic.twitter.com/tpzu4bdSaQ

— Nitesh Mishra (@niteshmishra_) February 18, 2016

I think its called #Freedom251 because you'll be able to book the phone only after 251 attempts.

— The-Lying-Lama (@KyaUkhaadLega) February 18, 2016

blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">

#Freedom251 Airtel 4G Girl Booked All Phones Yesterday #Freedom251

First site crash now stuck on payment.

— Harish Hadiyal (@HarishHadiyal) February 18, 2016

Yesterday
Guy 1: I will buy 5 mobiles
2: I will buy 10 mobiles
3: I will buy 50 mobiles
Now
All: How can I buy atleast 1 mobile?#Freedom251

— Alekhya Das (@iAlekhyaDas) February 18, 2016

Mobile phone industry raises concerns over Freedom 251 smartphone

 

The Noida-based firm, set up five months ago by Amity University graduate Mohit Kumar Goel, launched the Freedom 251 at a high-profile function last night, attended by BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi.

Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar, who the company had said would launch the phone, could not make it due to "cabinet meeting", the event's organisers said.

Ringing Bells' President Ashok Chaddha said manufacturing cost of the phone is about Rs 2,500, which will be recovered through a series of measures like economies of scale, innovative marketing, reduction in duties and creating an e-commerce marketplace.

 

"By going for Made in India components, we can save on the 13.8 per cent duty. Also, we will be selling online first and thus save the costs incurred on large distribution network," he said.

Chaddha also rejected speculations of the handset being subsidised by the government.

"The phone will be manufactured in Noida and Uttaranchal. Two plants will be set up for Rs 250 crore each with a capacity of 5 lakh phones. The money will come in the form of debt and equity (1.5:1)," he said.

Chaddha added the equity is being met by the promoter family of the company that is "engaged in agri-commodities business" in Uttar Pradesh but declined to give further information.

Sunit Singh Tuli, the CEO of Datawind that produced the USD 35 Akash tablet for government a few years back, said a 3G device with the specs offered would cost almost eight times higher than what's being offered.

The industry has also raised concerns about the pricing of the device and has asked Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to get into depth of the issue, saying the price could not be below Rs 3,500 even after a subsidised sale.

In a letter to the minister, Indian Cellular Association (ICA) also said it is not appropriate for senior political and government leadership to be present at launch till the air around this is cleared.

"For your kind information, the bill of material value for a product like this when sourced from the cheapest supply chain cost approx USD 40 (Rs 2,700). And this when translated into retail price after addition of applicable duties, taxes and with distribution and retail margins would be at least Rs 4,100 while the product is being sold at Rs 251," ICA National President Pankaj Mohindroo said in the letter.

He added even if the product is sold at lower margins in a e-commerce type subsidised sale, the final consumer price cannot come below USD 52-55 (about Rs 3,500-3,800).

Also, with no visible mobile operator subsidy involved in this, the price does look difficult to offer.

The 3G handset, Freedom 251, features a 4-inch display, Spectrum 1.3-GHz quad-core processor and 1 GB RAM. It will come with apps linked to government initiatives like Swachh Bharat, Women Safety, Fisherman, Farmer and Medical.

India's cheapest smartphone Freedom 251 faces booking issues

 

Freedom 251 began on Thursday at 6 am onwards through the company's website,http://www.freedom251.com/.

However, when we tried to book the device, we faced the following problems.

1. We went to the buy now option which took us to "YOUR CART"
2. We filled the quantity to be booked along with the SHIPPING ADDRESS.
3. It took us to terms and conditions options and then payment option.
4. The moment we clicked on the payment option it threw us back to the same "YOUR CART" screen.

Notably, the booking will get closed on February 21 at 8 p.m. The company says deliveries will be completed by 30th June 2016.

Also, the company is charging Rs 40 for shipping. So if you book a device of Freedom 251, you will have to pay Rs 291.

Did you also face similar issues while trying to book the smartphone? Share your views.

Freedom 251: What makes us wary and suspicious about this smartphone

 

While the smartphone has generated quite a buzz, it has left tech analysts with more questions than answers.

Here are some of them:

- The preview device shipped to reviewers bears the logo of Adcom, which was hidden with whitener, and not Ringing Bells or Freedom 251! Adcom is actually a Delhi-

based importer of IT products which also ships in smartphones and tablets. Freedom 251's looks and specifications are also similar to that of Adcom Ikon 4.

- The user interface of Freedom 251, which is powered by Android Lollipop, resembles an iPhone! Many of the app icons appear to have been lifted straight from the iPhone and that should make customers wary as that has the potential to attract copyright infringement case. Also, the home button on the phone appears to be a clone of the one on iPhone!

- Further, Freedom 251 is not reported to have secured Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification, which is mandatory for all phones sold in India.

- While bookings for Freedom 251 start on February 18 at 6 am and close on February 21, the phone is not likely to ship before June 30 – that's nearly four and a half months later.

- The preview phone is not at all what it looks like in promotional pictures. In fact, the images of the phone posted on the official website and the phone given for reviews appear to be two totally different phones.

- Analysts are wondering how Ringing Bells is managing to sell a smartphone at Rs 251! Calculations done by various websites put the factory/assembling cost of the phone at well above Rs 2,500! Even the Adcom Ikon 4 is priced above Rs 4,000 on e-commerce websites.

- Last but not the least, the company has shied away from answering the doubts in the minds of people, including journalists, so far. While this makes us suspicious, we would still like to wait and watch how the entire things plays out.

 

Freedom 251: Booking of India's cheapest smartphone begins today

 

Freedom 251, begins Thursday (February 18) 6 a.m. onwards through the company's website,http://www.freedom251.com/.

The booking will be close on February 21 at 8 p.m.

Hailed as India's and world's cheapest smartphone, Freedom 251 has been priced at just Rs 251 which is less than USD 4 in international market.

Launched on Wednesday at Nehru Park, New Delhi by veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi, Freedom 251 is seen as a smartphone that will disrupt the market with the industry raising concern over it.

For the price of just Rs 251, Freedom 251 comes with a 4-inch qHD display powered by a Qualcomm 1.3-GHz quad-core processor along with 1 GB RAM.

It runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop, has an internal memory of 8 GB that is expandable up to 32 GB via a microSD card. It features a 3.2-MP rear and a 0.3-MP front facing camera and a 1,450-mAh battery.

Booking and delivery dates of the world's cheapest phone Freedom 251

 

A move that is likely to disrupt the smartphone market, Freedom 251 had already created buzz much before its official launch.

Booking for the world's cheapest smartphone, Freedom 251 will begin February 18, 6 a.m. onwards and close on February 21 at 8 p.m.

Delivery will be done on first-come first-serve basis and will go on till June 30. However, the date of the quickest delivery is not known.

Payment has to be done online via net banking, credit card or debit cards.

There is NO Cash on Delivery option.