Reliance Jio to launch 4G enabled low-cost laptop for ₹15,000: Report

The Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate has partnered with global giants Qualcomm and Microsoft for JioBook, the former makers of computing chips based on Arm Ltd’s technology and the Windows OS maker providing support for some apps.

India’s largest telecom carrier with over 420 million subscribers, Jio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sources said the laptop will be available for enterprise customers such as schools and government institutions from this month, with a consumer launch expected within the next three months. Like the JioPhone, a 5G-enabled version will follow.

“It will be as big as the JioPhone,” one of the sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

According to Counterpoint, since its launch late last year, the handset has been India’s best-selling sub-$100 smartphone, accounting for a fifth of the market in the past three quarters.

One of the sources said that JioBook will be targeted to sell “hundreds of thousands” of units locally by contract maker Flex with Jio by March.

According to research firm IDC, total PC shipments in India stood at 14.8 million units last year, led by HP, Dell and Lenovo.

Counterpoint analyst Tarun Pathak said the launch of JioBook will expand the total addressable laptop market segment by at least 15%.

The laptop will run Jio’s own JioOS operating system and apps can be downloaded from the JioStore. Jio is also offering laptops as an alternative to tablets for out-of-office corporate employees.

Jio, which raised nearly $22 billion in 2020 from global investors such as KKR & Co Inc and Silver Lake, is credited with disrupting the world No. 2 into the mobile market when it launched cheap 4G data plans and free voice services in 2016, and later launched a 4G smartphone priced at just $81.

This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.