According to Deloitte, the number of sub-US$100 smartphones in circulation is forecast to hit 500 million by the end of 2012. By the end of 2011, these sub $100 Smartphones stood at 200 million installed base. And Deloitte predicts that, this segment is about to double in volume this year.
The firm said that smart devices costing less than US$100 would have the “look and feel of smartphones, sporting touchscreens or full qwerty keyboards,” but with “weaker processors, less memory, slower connectivity options [and] lower resolution cameras” – a trade-off it suggests most purchasers of these devices are willing to make.^
Sure, for someone who is jumping from a Nokia 2600 to a low cost smartphone, these doesn’t matter. But these are the same people who later get frustrated cause the phone is slow or doesn’t respond. Camera quality is so low that it’s embarrasing to click photos. These are the people, who after using a low end smartphone switch to high performing Smartphone. These phones are just a scam by manufacturers who promise to be a smartphone but aren’t really.
So why even call them a smartphone? Because they can do everything that a smartphone can do but without giving any kind of satisfaction of doing it or with extremely low quality. Why not just call them scam phones instead?
Now with manufacturers aiming to target 5,000-10,000 INR segment with Android devices these scam phones are going to be everywhere, at least in India.
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