India's $4 smartphone

On Wednesday, February 17, 2016, Ringing Bells in India released their Freedom 251 smartphone. It has a 4-inch screen, a 1.3-GHz quad-core processor ,and 8GB of storage for only $3.65! The government of India along with other organizations think it’s a scam or “too good to be true.” According to Richard Windsor, an analyst at Edison Investment Research, Ringing Bells would lose $26 for each phone sold. Pankaj Mohindroo, the national president of the Indian Cellular Association, said that even with the cheapest materials, Ringing Bells would have to sell them for $52 (with taxes and duties). Windsor has three theories: The cheap phones could be from a company in China wanting to get into the Indian market, a manufacturer could be selling the phones that failed safety tests, or the Indian government could just be selling the phones for less.

I thought this article was very interesting because people who are poor are able to purchase a phone almost like a wealthy person. I think it’s important that people can easily communicate with each other. However, it concerns me that they are so cheap because that could potentially be dangerous. An example of this danger is that there could be tracking devices or other harmful gadgets on the phones.


India's $4 smartphone: Too good to be true?