5G Budget Phones Are Not Dead In India: Qualcomm To News18 – News18

Indian users can finally expect brands to launch budget 5G phones helping them use the new high-speed network in the country. Most people say that if you spend Rs 12,000 these days you get a budget 5G phone and that’s mostly right. But things are gradually changing with 5G smartphones in India, and soon the market will see more entries in the budget market.

Speaking to News18 recently, Savi Soin, President of Qualcomm India talked about his company’s relative absence from the sub-Rs 10,000 mobile segment in the country with 5G phones so far. The company has been busy working on its mobile chipset with Gen AI capabilities but all the good stuff has been reserved for the premium segment.

Qualcomm says it has been working behind the scenes with its partners and soon we will see a flurry of smartphones launching in the budget segment. As Savi points out, the market matures and the volume of 5G phones increases at a fast pace in the country.

We have been hearing from brands about their plans to launch budget 5G phones but most of them have remained quiet on a particular timeline except for the likes of Lava. People are eager to see popular names like Xiaomi, Realme and more of them bring their affordable 5G offerings, now that 5G services are available in most nooks and corners of the country.

It does help that over 100 million 5G users are not paying a premium for 5G data plans, instead they get a 5G network (at least with the icon) on 4G data plans. India’s mobile segment has seen a dramatic shift in the buying patterns with more people happy to pay a premium for smartphones rather than compromising with budget.

Having said that, you still have over 300 million feature phone users who would happily jump to 4G or 5G if quality phones come within their budget and as per Soin, that day isn’t far away now.