Mr. Shashin Devsare, Executive director of Karbonn in an Analyst call said,
Karbonn is the process of launching VoLTE enabled 4G Mobilephones (which would work on Jio Network). Currently Karbonn does not have any 4G device. In order to develop such a phone, Karbonn believe integration from hardware perspective needs to happen. It is not difficult to launch VoLTE phones at lower price points (cheapest LYF VoLTE phone is Rs 2,999). But such a phone would have a stripped down hardware configuration (like memory being only at 512 MB). Karbonn does not think that any VoLTE phones launched will be costlier when compared to other 4G phones but such phones would have fewer features.
From Karbonn's perspective, the company believes that to enable a seamless experience certain hardware specifications cannot be compromised. For instance, memory plays an important role. For customer experience to improve, then one needs to be mindful of good configuration, irrespective of the price of the phone. As per Karbonn management, the price of 2 GB is not low enough for the user to get hooked onto the smart device. Management thinks that consumers do not mind spending a one-off amount every 2 years for upgrading phone but they are more cautious on recurring bill very month.
Other handset companies are watching the developments in the market closely and will focus aggressively on launching 4G enabled
smartphones once the Jio launch happens and the 4G ecosystem starts to develop.
