The keyword is ‘budget’. Budget smartphones in India constitute a massive percentage of the market and manufacturers are bending over backwards, offering a host of features to buyers, just to get their share of this pie
Gone are the days when a smartphone was a luxury which only the rich could think of. Given the digital age, smartphones are become more of ‘must-have’ with some people carrying more than just one. However, the cause for the sudden popularity of the smartphones, especially in the India market, can be attributed to pricing.
Smartphone pricings have staggeringly dropped in the last five years. While earlier a premium smartphone with all the bows and frills would cost you nothing less than Rs. 40,000, today you can just walk into a store (or order online) and buy a decent smartphone for less than Rs. 10,000. And most of the major companies are cashing in on the latter market and have even termed it as the affordable/budget smartphone market.
It is quite easy to understand why people would be attracted to budget (read as cheaper) smartphones. If my smartphone costing just Rs. 9000 does almost everything that your smartphone costing Rs. 30,000 can do, then I for one would see absolutely no point in spending an additional Rs. 21,000. But the real feeling of hopelessness is something experienced by a person with an expensive smartphone like the Galaxy Note 7 (considering that it has still not blown him apart), standing right next to someone with an affordable smartphone like a Redmi Note 3 and clicking photos. Ever had that feeling?
While it seems to be just a status symbol to own a high-end premium smartphone like the iPhone, is it justified to claim that these folks are unwise to ‘waste’ those thousands of rupees for no apparent reason?
The budget smartphone market kicked off in early 2013 when Motorola introduced the first Moto G – a stellar phone with decent specifications and a shockingly attractive pricing. Fast forward to two years later, loads of Chinese smartphone companies like Xiaomi started entering India. They went a step ahead and shattered records by pricing their handsets at less than Rs. 7000, thus stirring up a price war in the Indian smartphone market.
At this point, market leaders like Samsung had no clue on how to stop the attack on the market, leave alone home grown companies like Micromax. Eventually, these companies too decided to go with the flow and shifted their focus on the budget smartphone market. Micromax went forward to launch the YU brand which was the first to offer a 4G smartphone below Rs. 5000.
The question now is, how did the manufacturers suddenly drop their prices and are the devices really worthy as advertised? Well maybe, maybe not. It is quite obvious that the handset makers would have to compromise on a few things to still keep the business profitable. Here are a few things that you should consider before going for your next affordable smartphone.
Design is key
One of the most defining features of premium smartphones is the design itself. In most cases, the design marks the smartphone apart from other affordable devices. The finest aircraft-grade aluminium body, glass/ceramic back and curved easier to hold edges is something most affordable smartphone cannot afford and as such have to settle with plastic. Further, handset makers avoid costs involving waterproofing and protective features to keep the cost down. Even the finer details, like the fingerprint scanner in the front, offer more ease to users.
Low cost components
Another major area where smartphone manufacturers reduce cost is by using low cost components internally – something perfected well by the Chinese smartphone companies. However, it is important to note that the performance and in turn how much you can use the device gets greatly affected. The RAM and storage offered is also bare minimum, thus resulting in frequent hangs and a terrible user experience.
Regular updates
The average life of a smartphone, as decided by the manufacturers, is hardly one year. This is for two major reasons – you are compelled to purchase yet another device after a year and secondly, the company can focus on other new device without having to worry about its existing portfolio. This essentially means no update for your phone. Almost everyone with an affordable smartphone will have experienced this.
Unfortunately, the companies are forced to take such measures only to reduce the price of the smartphone which you would have thought about a hundred times before buying if not for that price. It has nothing to do with companies “hating” customers. It’s just about selling their products to you hoping that you will not come back to them asking for support, yet expecting you to buy their next smartphone when it’s launched the following year.
- Jonathan Pereira is a technology enthusiast with a keen eye for mobile and mobile technology. He’s a foodie by heart, and loves both the edible chips and the non-edible silicon chips. Find him on twitter @GoanIdle
