Idea cellular has went official with two low cost Android phones in order to boost adoption of its 3G services. Idea MD Mr. Himanshu Kapania made it clear that they would remain service providers and don’t intend to compete with handset manufacturers. The two Idea smartfones iD 280 and BLADE are powered by Android OS and are sourced from Huawei and ZTE respectively. Idea stressed that they aren’t making money on hardware, but rather pushing the 3G ecosystem (neither are they making a loss on the hardware by subsidizing.) Idea adds value by bundling these handsets with a free 3G data plan, Idea TV and an offer giving away extra 3G bandwidth.
The Handsets
Both the phones by Idea are powered by Android vs 2.2 (Froyo) and meet the minimum requirements to get Android market on them along with a decent user experience (GPS, FM, WiFi, capacitive touch etc). The iD 280 (Huawei IDEOS X1) sports a 2.8″ screen and a 528MHz processor, this one perhaps makes the lowest priced Android handset in the country at Rs 5850 (Idea claims an effective price of Rs 2609 if you consider the 3G bundle), where as the Idea Blade (ZTE Blade) features a much more usable 3.5″ screen along with a 600MHz processor, priced at Rs 7992 (Idea claims Rs 4751 effective). Given that the phones run Froyo, they also feature the WiFi hotspot feature thus enabling the consumers to use the same as a WiFi router. Both handsets are unlocked GSM units.
Hands-On Pictures
Idea iD-280
Idea BLADE
The Offer
Idea claims a Rs 3500 free bundle with each of these handsets, with 1GB of free 3G usage along with Idea TV subscription for the first 3 months. Idea also offers a Double Dhamaka benefit for 6 months. The double dhamaka offer gives a user double the amount of bandwidth for any data recharge they make. Users need to make a single Rs 259 recharge to avail this subsidy / free 3G. The handset effective pricing by Idea thus is calculated as follows:
Idea iD 280: Price Rs 5850 + Rs 259 (offer recharge) – Less Rs 3500 offer = Rs 2609
Idea Blade: Price Rs 7992 + Rs 259 (offer recharge) – Less Rs 3500 offer = Rs 4751
Idea hopes to upgrade its 2G user base to 3G and make most of its Rs 10,000 cr of investment in 3G technology.
What an Idea?
While Idea has managed to bring 3G enabled smartphones for under Rs 8000 with a data plan that would see the consumers through for the first few months, there are some underlining assumptions here.
Would a consumer spend Rs 650 for 1GB of 3G data after the first 6 months of offer usage? A bigger concern, is the average consumer who spends less than Rs 8000 on a smartphone looking for high speed internet connection? An EDGE data plan would cost Rs 99 for 2GB/month!
Given that data rates have a tendency to come down over time, perhaps much lower rates might prevail 6 months later, Idea might well be successful in seeding 3G culture into the ecosystem by then. Certainly a development that we would like to track. But if you aren’t in for 3G, the handsets themselves are well priced.
