Canadian Immigration focuses on Canadian Immigration Life: Recently, the Canadian manufacturer DataWind has made a significant impact on the domestic smartphone market. DataWind is collaborating with Indian operator Reliance Communications to launch a smartphone priced at only 15 dollars on December 28.
DataWind is known for its collaboration projects with the Indian government, having previously provided affordable tablets to Indian students to give them access to advanced technology.
This smartphone, priced at 95 yuan, runs on a Linux system and only supports 2G network connectivity. Other details have not yet been disclosed, but its size is estimated to be no larger than 3.5 inches, targeting customers looking to upgrade from their first smartphone. Due to its low price, its usability is unlikely to match that of mainstream domestic smartphones, and it may even fall short compared to the 999 yuan QiKu phone youth edition, with their target users being in India.
In fact, the Canadian company DataWind had previously launched a tablet priced at 37.99 dollars a few years ago. Typically, products from developed countries are priced higher, but this company has a beautiful vision and hopes to lower prices further.
The company's CEO Singh Tuli stated when planning to launch a 20 dollar tablet: "The goal of manufacturing the cheapest tablet is to eliminate the barriers to purchasing tablets, making them affordable for everyone to access the internet. I believe that internet access is a basic human right."
According to the latest IDC report, in the first quarter of 2014, 78% of the mobile phones sold in India were feature phones, and by the fourth quarter, this proportion had dropped to 65%. This means that nearly half of the population has not yet enjoyed the conveniences of the mobile internet era and still lives in the era of feature phones. All of this is aimed at ensuring that everyone has the right to enjoy using smartphones.
DataWind indicates that the low price of this smartphone may be attributed to the decline in processor and memory prices, and the company plans to collaborate with chip manufacturers in China or Taiwan soon. Additionally, the company has adopted a direct sales model, avoiding retail sales, and hopes to compensate through advertising and APP revenue and other services. This sounds like an application of the "internet thinking" model from abroad.
As of the time of writing this article, the price of the iPhone 6s in India is approximately 8330 yuan based on the current exchange rate. However, surveys indicate that while wealthy individuals in China love the iPhone, locally produced smartphones from companies like Micromax are more popular among the Indian populace. Currently, the Redmi is selling for around 950 yuan, while Micromax smartphones range from 190 to 950 yuan. However, ensuring that everyone has the right to use a smartphone sounds much better than the ongoing competition among domestic manufacturers.