Slew of sub-Rs10,000 smartphones hit shelves

The budget smartphone segment has grown by leaps and bound in the country. Slew of sub-Rs10,000 smartphones hit shelves

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Published at : September 18, 2015

Updated at : September 18, 2015 09:54

Kathmandu

The budget smartphone segment has grown by leaps and bound in the country.

To capture a sizable pie of the fast-growing market, global brands like Samsung, Huawei and Gionee are expanding their portfolio of affordable smartphones priced below Rs10,000. Microsoft too is working to launch a sub-Rs10,000 smartphone.

Huawei recently launched the Y3C smartphone priced at Rs7,999. “The Y3C is major contributor to our sales. Affordable smartphones have been the major money-spinners as people are increasingly upgrading from feature phones,” said Roshan Neupane, marketing manager of Call Mobility, authorised distributor of Huawei.

The Y3C comes with a 4-inch WVGA LCD display and is powered by 1.2GHz quad-core processor. It sports 5MP rear camera with flash and 2MP front camera. The phone comes with dual-SIM functionality, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. It is equipped 512GB RAM and 1,730mAh battery. Weighing just 120g, the company claims the phone to be the lightest in the segment.

Samsung Nepal has launched its first Tizen-based smartphone, the Z1, with a price tag of Rs7,490. The phone is equipped with 1,500mAh battery, 768MB RAM, 4GB internal memory (expandable up to 64GB) and dual-SIM functionality. The Z1 is equipped with 4-inch WVGA PLS screen and sports a 3.1MP camera.

Gionee, which primarily focused on the mid-range segment, has come up with the “P” series of phones in the affordable segment. The company’s distributor in Nepal, Teletalk has launched the Pioneer P2M at Rs9,999. The phone’s major attraction if its 3,000mAh battery. The Pioneer P2M is powered by a quad-Core 13 GHz CPU and comes with 1GB RAM. The P2M sports a 5MP rear and a 0.3MP front cameras. Samir Dhungana, marketing manager of the company said: “Elated by the response for P2M, we have planned to launch the P2S soon.”

The company will launch the P2S by the end of September. The phone will cost around Rs8,000. The phone features a 4-inch display, 1.3GHz dual-core processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB of inbuilt storage, 5MP rear camera with LED flash and 0.3MP front camera.

Ashish Jindal, managing director of Paramount Electronics, authorised distributor of Microsoft, said: “Microsoft plans to come with a range of budget phones in a few months.”