The Cheapest Phone: $16 from Vodafone

Vodafone is going ‘cheap’: The Company is preparing to launch the world’s cheapest cell phone – at just $16. Yes, I repeat, the cheapest phone at just $16. The cellular giant will be launching it’s touted ‘world’s cheapest phone’ in India at just Rs. 700 ($16 USD). The phone is expected to be available within the next 5 months. This practically means telecom service providers have declared a virtual war on each otherl.

Vodafone’s latest push is part of the growing war among cellular and telecommunication companies fighting to control India’s 200 million cellular users’ base. Vodafone announced the phone on April 28 and ever since, the sub-continent’s largely-Below Poverty Line (BPL) 1.5 billion population has been in anticipation.

Readers may be interested to know that India is also home to the world’s cheapest car – the Tata Nano, priced at Rs. 1 Lakh.

Going Really Cheap

Vodafone’s announcement in April is expected to intensify the race to provide ultra low-cost mobile handsets to Indian consumers. The race for the cheapest phone set has been gaining momentum when several cellular companies began touting coming up with mobile handset priced at least below the Rs 1,000 price tag. It is understood that Vodafone’s latest push to capture the mobile phone market is targeted at India’s 70% of 1.5 billion people comprising of the rural populations.

According to Times, Vodafone’s announcement of the ‘cheapest phone’ is the first ever attempt by a telecom service provider to compromise market watersheds to as low as Rs 1,000. Before Vodafone, there have been attempts by mobile companies. For in stance, Nokia priced one of its models at Rs 1,300. Vodafone itself competed in the market with mobile priced at just Rs 1,200. According to Times, the Rs 700-Vodafone handsets will be sold in India with the rural population and areas as the particular targeted market niche.

The Big Market strategy

Vodafone has certainly done its homework considering the following statistics: The number of mobile subscribers in India till 2008 was a colossal 300 million (DNA). The average call minutes by a subscriber are 300 minutes in one month of which about 10% is estimated to be trunk calls.

The ‘cheapest phone’ will certainly trigger a mass run for dirt-price cuttings, at least in India. The average price for even a smart phone is $208 while “cheaper” or “normal” phones can be had at $58.

And the world’s most expensive phone?

As we talk about the world’s cheapest cell phone we might as well broach the world’s most expensive phone too. The world’s most expensive phone is the Bezel with even the cost of its construction figuring at least at £1.93 million! Now that is truly expensive. The Bezel is claimed to be ‘hand-made’ (well, all devices are hand-made – machines or factories cannot switch on by themselves anyhow!). The phone is made of platinum with 130 individual carat 75 flawless diamonds which total 97.5ct.

On the world’s most expensive phone is also set of 4 pink baguette diamonds. These pink baguette diamonds are said to be weighing at least 2.5cts. Further, there are also 112 grams of 18ct rose gold along with its rose gold Apple logo and 53 diamonds. The navigation itself is reportedly a single cut 7.1ct diamond in an 18ct rose gold base.

My phone is a Sony Ericsson worth around $ 75 but I guess a phone worth $16 would be too low to convince me into buying it – I don’t want to own a phone that has only two features – making and receiving calls!