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.

Whopping 5 crore Freedom 251 booked in just two days! Ringing Bells unable to deliver all

 

Noida-based Ringing Bells, promising a Rs 251 (less than $4) “Make in India” smartphone, on Friday claimed to have received nearly five crore registrations in just two days of opening up for online pre-orders.

In a chat with IANS, company president Ashok Chadha said that since the company will hand over 25 lakh “Freedom 251” phones to the people who have registered online.

The firm has stopped the registration process as it is unable to meet the huge demand.

There were two more days left to pre-order the phone till 8:00PM on February 21.

“The pre-booking numbers we received are sheer humongous. I am happy that so many Indians have responded to our ‘Make in India’ smartphone call.

Now the onus is on us to deliver on the promise and I am hopeful that we will be able to start delivery latest by April 10 and finish well before the June 30 deadline,” Chadha told IANS.

 

Ringing Bells books 5 crore Freedom 251 in just two days! Able to delivery only 25 lakh phones

While the world kept asking questions and Indians remained puzzled, Noida-based Ringing Bells, promising a Rs 251 (less than $4) “Make in India” smartphone, on Friday claimed to have received nearly five crore registrations in just two days of opening up for online pre-orders.

 

In a chat with IANS, company president Ashok Chadha said that since the company will hand over 25 lakh “Freedom 251” phones to the people who have registered online.

The firm has stopped the registration process as it is unable to meet the huge demand.

There were two more days left to pre-order the phone till 8:00PM on February 21.

“The pre-booking numbers we received are sheer humongous. I am happy that so many Indians have responded to our ‘Make in India’ smartphone call.

Now the onus is on us to deliver on the promise and I am hopeful that we will be able to start delivery latest by April 10 and finish well before the June 30 deadline,” Chadha told IANS.

Ringing bells abruptly closes booking for Freedom 251; says response far exceeded expectations

 

The smartphone's website has been plagued with  problems since the day of the launch owing to which the excitement around the phone seems to be fizzling out.

The company says that the response far exceeded its expectations, so it is closing the booking.

The company also said that it would like to bring out the sale again in Phase 2.

 

India's cheapest smartphone Freedom 251 will be disappointed as Ringing bells has closed the booking for the phone.

 

Gionee Elife S8 to launch in February 22

Gionee Elife S8 smartphone would be a slim handset with better camera performance. The phone is also expected to have pressure-sensitive display.

 

Pressure-sensitive displays helps a smartphone determine how hard the user is pressing a screen with your finger. This will then allow the operating system to apply different actions depending on the pressure level.

The expected price of on 91mobiles.com is listed at Rs 24,990. 

The Chinese smartphone maker had launched the predecessor Gionee Elife S7 in February 2015, and the smartphone priced at Rs 24,999 had reached India by April.

Specifications: Capacitive touchscreen, 4.6" display and 639 PPI (pixel density),. Dual SIM, Octa core 1.9 GHz processor, ARM Cortex A53 & MediaTek MT6795. The phone has 3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal memory and external memory expandable upto 64 GB (MicroSD), Batter is Lil-Po 3520 mAh, and would be available in black or white colour.

3G phone like Freedom 251 would cost Rs 2,300, finds telecom ministry

 

“The ministry has analysed the issue and it feels that such a device can be manufactured for about Rs 2,300,” sources said.

However, they refused to say if any action will be taken against the company in the matter.

Earlier this week, Noida-based firm Ringing Bells launched the world’s cheapest phone -- Freedom 251 -- priced at Rs 251, hogging limelight globally.

Indian Cellular Association, which represents the handset makers industry in India and has members like Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Lava and Micromax, had also written to telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The body said the bill of material value for a product like this when sourced from the cheapest supply chain cost approximately $40 (Rs 2,700).

When translated into retail price after addition of applicable duties, taxes and distribution and retail margins, the cost of the product would be at least Rs 4,100, it added.

ICA requested the minister to get into the depth of the issue, saying the price could not be below Rs 3,500 even after a subsidised sale.

Ringing Bells, on its part, said the 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.

Apart from the jaw-dropping price, the company that was set up five months ago by Amity University graduate Mohit Kumar Goel, is also in the midst of controversy with analysts alleging that its maker has merely rebranded a device by its rival, Adcom.

Analysts allege that the design of Ringing Bells’ Freedom 251 handset resembles that of Adcom’s Ikon 4, which is already available in the Indian market at Rs 3,999.

Interestingly, most built-in app icons on the Freedom 251 seem to be a direct copy of icons on Apple’s iPhone, they added.

Despite the controversies, the device has continued to grab attention from consumers. Following a heavy demand, Ringing Bells suspended bookings for 24 hours on Thursday. It resumed bookings on Friday.

 

Xiaomi to use smartphone chips designed in-house

 

The move would mark the first time that Xiaomi has used chips designed in-house, something analysts have said could put pressure on industry leaders such as Qualcomm Inc and MediaTek Inc, which supply the company.

The in-house smartphone application processor chips are designed for Xiaomi`s mid- to low-priced smartphone model RedMi Note series, but it is unclear how many Xiaomi is planning to make this year, said the source, who declined to be named because the information is not public.

The move comes as Beijing ploughs billions of dollars into home-grown chip companies in a bid to end China`s reliance on foreign semiconductors.

The world`s fifth-largest smartphone vendor, Xiaomi has hired 200 to 300 people to work on smartphone chip design in cities including Nanjing, Shanghai and Beijing, the source said.

"Xiaomi is copying the model of designing processor chips in-house from Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd," the source said, referring to the only three vendors who have the ability to put self-designed smartphone processor chips into commercial use at the moment.

Beijing-based Xiaomi declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Friday.

LONGSTANDING AMBITION

Xiaomi has long been keen on making in-house chips.

Chinese chip designer Leadcore Technology Ltd, a subsidiary of state-backed Datang Telecom, in 2014 signed an agreement with privately-owned Beijing Pinecone Electronics to jointly design 4G multiple mode chips, a stock exchange filing showed.

Beijing Pinecone Electronics is controlled by Xiaomi, the source and industry analysts told Reuters. Xiaomi declined to comment on its ties with the company.

Analysts said Chinese smartphone vendors` ambitions to design smartphone chips have become one of their major strategies to maintain market share and margins amid intense competition.

MediaTek was likely to come under pressure as it supplied most of Xiaomi`s mid- to low-priced smartphone chips, analysts said. MediaTek shipped about 20 million processor chips to Xiaomi last year, according to a report by Jefferies.

"Designing chips in-house actually costs more if the scale of smartphone vendors is not enough to support the cost of R&D," Taiwan-based MediaTek said. "In the end, they still have to outsource that to professional chip suppliers."

Qualcomm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Is Freedom 251 really the Chinese Adcom Ikon4?

 

Chinese smartphone Adcom Ikon4, which was selling on Flipkart around Rs 4,000.

The reports allege that Ringing Bells has covered the branding of the phone using a whitener and sticker.

Twitterati is also pegging a huge response to the smartphone sale. Tweets mention that Ringing Bells have already sold 17.46 crore of Freedom 251, around 6 lakhs per second!

Ringing Bells shares how Freedom 251 becomes cheapest smartphone in the world

 

The President of Ringing Bells Ashok Chadha has revealed the math behind the costing of the phone. He said that the bill of material of the phones comes around Rs 2000. However, the costing of the phone has been done on the assumption of economies of scale. 

The company is banking on the mammoth response as it is seeing to its phone. It is hoping that by making the hardware of the phone in its two plants, which are slated to come up in Uttarakhand and Noida, he will be able to save Rs 400 per phone on the manufacturing cost. 

Chaddha said that the company will save another Rs 400 per phone by selling online and avoiding the frills of a retail distribution set up.

He expect the cost to come further down as pre-booking orders swell and the momentum of the response to the smartphone is maintained. 

 

Freedom 251: Online booking for Rs 251 smartphone resumes today

 

The smartphone went on sale Thursday morning at 0600 hrs but the company later stopped accepting orders after its website crashed.

"Dear friends, we are very grateful for your enormous response and your kind patronage and would submit that as of now we received approx. Six Lacs hits per second as a result of your kind overwhelming response, servers are over loaded," Freedom251 said in an apology to customers.

"We humbly submit that we are therefore taking a pause and upgrading the service and will revert within or before 24 hours," it added.

The Noida-based firm Ringing Bells, 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.had unveiled the smartphone yesterday.

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 percent 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.

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.

"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.

 

You can buy even half of Freedom 251!

 

While trying to book the world's cheapest smartphone 'Freedom 251' various problems were faced by buyers. According to a tweet from #freedom251, the company was ordering even half of it!

 

Why did defence minister Manohar Parrikar skip launch event of Freedom 251 smartphone?

 

The launch event was attended by BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi along with Madhya Pradesh BJP MLA Om Prakash Saklecha.

However, Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar, who was expected to be the chief guest, could not make it to the event at Nehru Park.

Parrikar could not make it due to "cabinet meeting", the event's organisers said.

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.

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.

Know the person behind India's cheapest smartphone Freedom 251

 

The Freedom 251, despite having the latest specifications, comes at a price that many experts feel, is way beyond imagination.

Not much has been revealed about the person behind this device, but media reports say that the company Ringing Bells is promoted by Mohit Kumar Goel.

Noida-based Ringing Bells Pvt. Ltd was established in 2015.

Goel has a graduation degree from Western Sydney University and holds an MBA degree from Amity University. He ventured into telecom field only in last September.

Goel's father runs a grocery store in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district.

Financial daily, livemint, quoting data from the Registrar of Companies said that the company has Sushma Devi and Rajesh Kumar besides Goel as its directors.

Freedom 251, hailed as India's most affordable smartphone was launched yesterday 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: 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.