Tech

Smartphone Freedom 251: Questions Everywhere, Answers Nowhere

The smartphone Freedom 251, offered for sale online for the briefest of time by its manufacturer Ringing Bells, has thrown up a multitude of questions all over the world.
Online Desk

The smartphone Freedom 251, billed as the cheapest smartphone (Rs 251) in the world and offered for sale online only by its manufacturer Ringing Bells, has thrown up a multitude of questions all over the world. Some people question its specs, some its business model and some ask whether it is a scam. We present a selection of the questions being raised.

You got questions yourself? Post them to us (see below).

#Freedom251: Questions Raised on Facebook #Freedom251: Questions Raised on Twitter 
  1. Does Freedom 251 have a licence? BJP MP Kirit Somaiya asked on Friday whether this isn’t a scam. He said he went through all the papers of the company and Freedom 251 doesn’t have a licence. Is this correct?
  2. Are the antecedents of the promoters and investors bonafide? The Centre has asked the UP government to check the papers.
  3. Why was there white paint on the model shown at the launch of Freedom 251? The company says the final version won’t have paint on it when the phone will be shipped to buyers in four months.
  4. But why is it taking four months to ship the first models?
  5. In fact, the Akash tablet also promised a six month delivery time and never really got going.

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  2. Ashok Chadha, the president of  Ringing Bells, says 70 per cent of the phone will be made in Taiwan, and two assembling plants will be set up in India to make the rest. Why is it being called an Indian phone then?
  3. Ringing Bells owners come from a commodity trade – sugar, dry fruits, etc -- background. How did they branch off into an unrelated business in such a short time?
  4. And can they set up assembly plants by June?
  5. The company says it priced the model so low, expecting the state government to waive duties. There’s no indication that the UP government is playing along with this surmise.
  6. If the pricing is based on such vague surmises, does it mean that the Rs 251 price is just a publicity device to stoke interest?
  7. Another surmise of the company is that it expects a duty waiver of 13.8 per cent when the upcoming goods and services tax regime comes into being. That's a big if.
  8. The promoters of Ringing Bells say economies of scale will make Freedom 251 viable. But then, they also say only up to three lakh phones will be sold. Huh, come again? What economies of scale are we talking about if the scale itself is limited?
  9. Can a steeply discounted phone by viable if a limited number of phones are to be sold?
  10. Or is it something like the Nano, the one lakh car that now costs upwards of Rs 2 lakh?
  11. If the assembly units are not up yet, how do the promoters plan to ship the phone by four months?
  12. Forget about shipping in four months, Freedom 251 is only at a prototype stage. It still has to clear the specs required by the Bureau of Indian Standards for radiation, battery safety and plastic toxicity. Will it ever get there?
  13. Is Freedom 251 just a free advertising gambit then? The hoopla over the Rs 251 phone has already yielded publicity worth crores of rupees on just about every media platform in the country. Some of the interest has accrued to the company’s other models. Was this the purpose in the first place?
  14. It's clear that the home work for the product launch has not been done yet. Were the promoters taken aback by the interest generated by the smartphone?

See Gallery: Ringing Bells Launches Freedom 251 Smartphones

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