Bharti Enterprises chairman wishes for Rs.2,500 smartphones

No typo there. At the recently Mobile World Congress event, Chairman and Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Mittal revealed what his wish list looked like, reports The Economic Times. Mittal wishes to see the prices of smartphones slashed down to $50, i.e under Rs.2,500 in the times to come. Android enthusiasts would know that Rs.2,500 is close to nearly half the price of the cheapest Android phone in the market. The report further states that the fact remains that the processor and LCD display panels make the bulk of a smartphone cost, but, quoting Chief Marketing Officer at Lava, Sunil Raina, the report states that getting the prices of the chipset down would lead to other factors following suit. 

Cheaper Android? (Image credit: Getty Images)

The report further states that, “It won’t happen overnight, but sooner than most think. According to In-Stat, a global research firm, the integration of GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and sometimes FM radio onto a single chip dramatically cut costs in 2010. More innovation from chipset manufacturers is in the offing. This is why the research firm predictsAndroid will ship 339 million low-end smartphones(under $150 each) by 2015.” The report cites the findings of an In-Stat research in 2010, which concluded that adding features like GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and FM radio, onto a single chip helps in reducing the costs. Among other things, the research also stated that by 2015, 339 million, low-end Android smartphones would have been shipped. How low you ask? Each smartphone costing under $150. 

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Mittal’s wish list may seem a lot like many of our’s and needless to add, if his wishlist turns out to be true, owning a smartphone will become a reality for most.