Reliance set to relaunch JioPhone to cash in on rise in usage

Kolkata: Reliance Industries will relaunch its popular 4G feature phone JioPhone next quarter in a bid to ride the study and entertainment-fromhome wave and gain new subscribers for its telecom venture Reliance Jio.

The Mukesh Ambani-led company will follow it up with its proposed entry-level smartphone, being developed with Google, later next year, two senior industry executives said. Reliance and Google have formed a joint team for the project, they said.

JioPhone had in 2018 helped Reliance to become the largest selling mobile phone maker in the country before it vanished from the market earlier this year due to component sourcing issues. Reliance has now reworked its component supplier base, and the new JioPhone is being made by contract manufacturer Flex, the executives said.