The company, however, said Jio and Google had made significant progress in launching JioPhone Next.
Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio on Friday announced that it had postponed the release of JioPhone Next, a low-cost smartphone made in partnership with Google, in Diwali.
JioPhone was expected to be launched on September 10. “Both companies have begun testing JioPhone Next for a limited number of users to improve and work hard to make it more widely available during the Diwali holiday season,” said Reliance Jio. in a statement.
The company said the delay would help the company deal with ‘global semiconductor shortages’.
The company, however, said Jio and Google had made significant progress in launching JioPhone Next.
It said the testing of JioPhone Next and a limited number of users had begun for further refinement and efforts were being made to release it before Diwali.
Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani made the announcement regarding his release during the company’s 44th annual general meeting in June.
JioPhone Next is intended for customers looking for a budget-friendly smartphone to upgrade from 2G to 4G.
The company has not yet disclosed the price of the phone but is expected to stock up on items such as a voice assistant, voice screen reading, language translation, and a smart camera with augmented reality filter.
Mukesh Ambani during the annual Reliance share conference said the partnership with Google would lead to the development of a ‘development’ product in June.
“This is a testament to the great technology expert in the world and the national technology expert who are working together to create a development product that can be introduced in India and then exported globally,” Ambani said.
Google chief executive Sundar Photosi during Reliance’s 44th AGM in June said JioPhone Next was a step towards making technology more affordable for Indians and said the partnership was in line with Google’s vision to bring affordable access to Indian information in their language and create new products and services for different Indian needs.
