RIL aims to launch 5G-ready smartphone in FY22 | Economic Times

Reliance Industries (RIL) is likely to launch an affordable, 5G-ready Android smartphone in the next fiscal’s second quarter, as the conglomerate continues to woo the over-300 million feature phone users in India to switch to its telecom arm, Reliance Jio.People familiar with the matter said RIL is working on a May-June timeline to complete the R&D of the device, which is being developed in partnership with tech giant Google."But a launch will most likely be in the second quarter of FY21. It may coincide with the annual general meeting (AGM), usually held in August-September, when RIL has typically made all its previous announcements regarding its feature phones and fibre, among others" one of the persons cited earlier said. At the AGM, RIL may also announce its plan regarding a laptop, called JioBook, which is aimed at penetrating the education sector.In April 2018, ET had reported Jio's plans to build a Qualcomm chipset-powered laptop.Reliance Jio’s pace of adding new users has slowed rapidly from the middle of 2020. During the period, rival Bharti Airtel added more users than Jio. In this backdrop, Jio’s proposed smartphone would add steam to the company’s efforts to woo phone users.In the October-December quarter, Jio added over 5 million users while Airtel added over 14 million. Analysts said Airtel has been more successful in attracting Vodafone Idea’s users, including 2G ones, compared with Jio.To pick up user addition momentum, Jio recently announced new tariff plans aimed at retaining the 100 million users of its 4G feature phone, JioPhone, as well as attract new 2G users from rivals.