JioPhone Next costs US$58 to create

Reliance has teamed up with Google to launch the ultra-low-cost 4G smartphone JioPhone Next in 2021. According to Counterpoint, this smartphone cost US$58 to manufacture, and his next 5G smartphone jointly developed by the two could cost US$100-150.

According to Counterpoint, the JioPhone Next will be powered by Qualcomm’s QM215, a toned-down version of the Snapdragon 425, powered by a third-generation Adreno 308 GPU. Due to space and power constraints on the PCB, Reliance decided to use eMCPs from Samsung Electronics instead of eMMC or UFS. The phone uses a display from Chinese supplier TXD and Gorilla Glass 3 from Corning. Processors, storage/memory, and displays account for 54% of JioPhone Next’s BoM.

It’s worth noting that JioPhone Next is built into Syntiant’s speech recognition NPU. It supports always-on listening and wake-up to speech and voice commands, bridging the digital divide in a country with more than 20 official languages.

Despite the challenges facing the smartphone industry, such as supply chain constraints and rising component prices, Reliance has leveraged its scale to design the perfect BoM for this smartphone, according to Counterpoint.

At the 2022 General Assembly, Reliance announced that it would once again partner with Google to develop 5G smartphones. According to Counterpoint, Reliance may launch its next 5G smartphone at a price of $100 to $150. Reliance has spent INR 880.7 billion in the latest spectrum auction for 5G deployment. This will be rolled out across India by December 2023, with he launched in the metropolitan areas by October.

Reliance hopes to attract 2G feature phone users to switch to 4G networks through its ultra-cheap 4G-enabled JioPhone Next, and persuade 4G users to switch to 5G services with its upcoming 5G smartphone co-developed with Google.

For Google, a partnership with Reliance will help attract more users from India and potentially other emerging markets to the online world, boosting Alphabet’s advertising revenue.

JioPhone Next BoM List
Major	item	model	BOM share (%)	supplier
screen	screen		twenty one	TXD
	cover glass			Corning
storage and memory	eMCP		twenty two	samsung
processor	SoCs	QM215	11	Qualcomm
	NPUs	NDP101		Xintian
sensor and connection	Wi-Fi/Bluetooth	WCN3610	11	Qualcomm
	modem	Snapdragon X5 LTE Cat 4		Qualcomm
battery	3400mAH lithium battery		9	Fenghua New Energy
Camia	rear camera		9	SK Hynix
	front camera
others			17

Source: Counterpoint, compiled by DIGITIMES Asia, September 2022