Reliance Jio Partners With Banks And NBFCs: Here’s Why

Reliance Jio is trying its best to come up with new strategies to lure 2G users into adopting its upcoming 4G smartphone. Notably, the smartphone from Reliance Jio is likely to be available in two variants - basic and advanced. Besides, both models are expected to be priced under Rs. 9,000.

Reliance Jio Partners With Banks

However, to sell five million devices in the next six months, Reliance Jio has reportedly joined hands with five banks to finance the sale of the JioPhone Next. The telecom operator partnered DMI Finance, with Piramal Capital, IDFC First Assure, and State Bank of India (SBI), reports ET Now.

The report also claims that each bank guaranteed a business close to Rs. 10,000 crores. According to the report, buyers have to clear 10 percent of the cost in advance and refinance the rest of the amount. Besides, four NBFCs assured support close to Rs. 2,500 crores. In fact, the report claims that the telecom operator has given a target to distributors and financers for the sale of the JioPhone Next.

It is worth noting that the company has not announced the pre-booking of the device. But still, it is expected that the telco will start pre-booking this week or the beginning of the next week. In addition, the telecom operator will announce all offers or benefits with the smartphone.

JioPhone Expected Specifications

The JioPhone Next is likely to be powered by Qualcomm's entry-level Snapdragon 215 quad-core chipset. The smartphone will have two variants, such as 2GB/ 3GB of RAM and 16GB/ 32GB of storage, which might be expandable up to 128GB/ 256GB.

Also, the smartphone is likely to come up with a 5.5-inch display, 2500 mAh battery, 13MP primary camera, and 8MP camera on the front. The smartphone will feature a 3.5mm audio jack and run on Android 11.

Reliance Jio Partners With UTL Neolyncs

Apart from joining hands with banks and non-banking financial firms, Reliance Jio has roped in UTL Neolyncs to assemble devices. Notably, UTL Neolyncs recently received incentives under the production-linked incentive scheme. The company wants to bring devices in the next months to the country.

Reliance Jio Joining Hands With Smartphone Players

Meanwhile, a report from ET pointed out that Reliance Jio is expected to join hands with Xiaomi, Vivo, Realme, Oppo, and more smartphone brands for its exclusive offers. For the unaware, the company has recently partnered with Oppo and Infinix for their newly launched smartphones.

The Jio exclusive offer provides a discount to customers and is designed for devices that are under Rs. 10,000. However, the report said that Jio's exclusive offer might start providing benefits to mid and high-end smartphones in the coming days.

"We think the move is likely to help Jio acquire mid-segment users (along with low-end users targeted with 'JioPhone Next'), enabling expansion of high-ARPU subscriber base as well as get more users for its digital apps. Device subsidy (as per our calculations) which was earlier limited to JioPhone would now be extended to other smartphones, raising customer acquisition cost," UBS was reported by ET.

It is important to note that Reliance Jio wants to attract 300 million 2G users to 4G services, which is why it has joined hands with banks and NBFCs so that buyers can easily purchase the upcoming smartphone.

Furthermore, the telecom operator wants to increase the user base to 500 million from the 441 million and these initiatives are expected to help Jio in the coming months.