Can the JioPhone Prima 2 finally convert 2G holdouts to 4G?

On 10 September, Reliance Jio Infocomm announced the launch of the JioPhone Prima 2—the premium version of its 4G feature phone, the JioPhone Prima. The phone is sleek, comes equipped with a Qualcomm chipset, and supports Google Assistant, YouTube, Facebook, JioCinema and LiveTV. All of this on a 2.4-inch screen and priced at just Rs 2,800. It also boasts rather more utilitarian features, such as scan-and-pay and a built-in soundbox, which blares voice notifications when payments are received.

Since the launch of Jio services in 2016, devices have been an integral part of the telco's business strategy to bring hundreds of millions of mobile subscribers into its fold. However, after tasting initial success with the JioPhone—which sold 100 million devices between 2017 and 2021—the telco’s device play seems to have lost its way.