Indian technology firm Ringing Bells has announced that the first 5,000 units of the “world’s cheapest smartphone” are ready to deliver.
The Freedom 251 handset costs just 251 rupees ($4, £3) but many people have questioned whether the price is too good to be true.
According to BBC reporter Shilpa Kannan, who went hands-on with one of the first completed devices in India: “At first sight, it is an Android phone, but it feels very much like an Apple phone. Some of the apps look similar, it is a touchscreen, with four inches of screen space. It has back and from cameras.”
While sceptics are not sure if the price will be sustainable, the makers say it is actually going to suffer a loss of $2 on every handset it delivers. The company has 5000 units, which it said it is ready to deliver, and has placed an order for 200,000 more handsets. But the real order book is about 70 million phones. The question is if Ringing Bells can deliver that number .
