Jio is planning to launch new low-cost smartphones in India, which might help the telco regain subscriber momentum. According to JM Financial’s note, the recent delay in tariff hike is not going to affect the long-term structural uptrend story in Jio’s average revenue per user (ARPU). As per a PTI report, Jio’s aggressive strategy for affordable smartphones is going to boost its subscriber base in the country.
Jio Affordable Smartphone Launch Might Boost Subscriber Momentum
Further, the report claims that the subscriber count for the telco remained muted for FY21 owing to spectrum scarcity that occurred due to a surge in users data consumption post COVID scenario. The new aggressive JioPhone offers coupled with the impending launch of low-cost smartphones will help the telecom operator to regain subscriber count in the country. Jio’s net subscriber addition dropped to 2.3 million per month compared to 4.7 million net subscribers in March 2020. It has been reported that the JioPhone plans will be able to create some traction and act as a key to revive the subscriber momentum for Jio. JM Financial report suggests that Jio will significantly focus on increasing the subscriber count. The company is mainly planning to cross-sell and up-sell digital opportunities to its subscriber. It would be interesting to see what are the offers Jio is planning to launch with the affordable smartphone. Going with the previous reports, Jio is planning to launch the affordable smartphone at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) this year. The teleco is also expected to launch JioBook which is a low-cost laptop for Indian users. The company is expected to equip the laptop with Qualcomm chipsets. The delay in tariff hikes will further help the company in attracting a larger market base when other telcos like Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have already increased the price of their plans.
