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Reliance Says JioPhone Next Launch To Be Delayed Till Diwali

The budget smartphone was originally scheduled to launch on Sept. 10.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>JioPhone Next. (Source: Google)</p></div>
JioPhone Next. (Source: Google)

Reliance Industries Ltd. has said that the widely anticipated launch of JioPhone Next, which is co-developed with Google, will be delayed till at least November amid a global shortage of chipsets.

"Both companies have begun testing JioPhone Next with a limited set of users for further refinement and are actively working to make it available more widely in time for the Diwali festive season," RIL's arm Jio Platforms said in a media statement. "This additional time will also help mitigate the current industry-wide, global semiconductor shortages."

The budget smartphone was scheduled to launch on Sept. 10.

The statement said that Jio and Google have made considerable progress towards launching the smartphone, which is now in advanced testing with a limited set of users for further refinement.

JioPhone Next will feature an customised operating system based on Android OS. The phone will have a suite of Google applications including features like voice assistant, automatic read-aloud of screen text, language translation, and smart camera with augmented reality filter. It will also have a smart camera with India-centric filters, the company has said.

The price and delivery details of the phone have not been announced yet. However, Mukesh Ambani had said that it will be the most affordable smartphone in the world.

Research firm UBS in its May report had said migration of 2G or feature phone users to smartphone would expand the average revenue per user of Reliance Jio and accelerate its market share gains.