Wednesday, June 03, 2015

Life with a $100 smartphone: How low-cost phones are rapidly changing lives in India

Bharath Kumar has the husky build of a rugby player, which comes in handy as he lugs around a large backpack filled with packages to deliver on his patch of Bangalore. That and ownership of a good scooter or motorcycle were among prerequisites the 25-year-old met about a year back when he switched jobs so he could motor around town, sometimes listening to music, delivering packages from Amazon.com’s Indian unit.

“In my spare time, I like to check the Internet,” he said. He has a 3G data connection and likes to use it.

Accessing the mobile Web would have been unthinkable for Kumar just a few years ago when feature phones dominated the Indian market. But now, Chinese mobile phone manufacturers like Lenovo, Xiaomi and Huawei, and Indian manufacturers like Micromax, Intex and Lava are flooding the market with mostly Android-compatible smartphones that cost a little more than $100, a price point that makes it affordable for a vast swath of the Indian public.

Kumar has the equivalent of a high school diploma, but street smarts and familiarity with smartphones, picked up among friends and through innate curiosity, opened up opportunities. As India’s online shopping scene grew, and the supply chain needed thousands of able-bodied youth, Kumar got a job with the staffing firm that hires out “delivery associates” to the country’s rising e-commerce giants and their American competitor Amazon.com Inc.

Such associates typically take home about $200 a month. They also get money to cover their gasoline expenses, with a little bit left over. That means even a $100 smartphone can cost upwards of half the associate’s salary, but the returns are well worth it. With diligence, some can expect to rise up the chain. Internet access means easier job searches. Full story...

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