India is gradually turning out to be the destination for all smartphone players who are either interested to set up base in the country or are eager to cater to the Indian masses through localised websites which could serve as the buying ground for their smartphones by Indian buyers. The best part of the smartphone market in India is that it has shown phenomenal growth in the past few years and across all categories of smartphone buyers. Takin advantage of the growing popularity of smartphones in India, Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) has recently launched its flagship Lumia 638 under its banner that has a reasonable sticker price linked to the handset to improve its sales further in the Indian subcontinent. Let’s dive in to find out the details of Microsoft’s latest offering.
The attraction pointers
The launch of the 4G smartphone came with a very economical price tag of around $130 – a huge competitive point that can be highlighted when compared to other smartphones with similar features selling in India.
The smartphone comes with a 4.5 ClearBack LCD display with a 480 x 854 pixel resolution which comes to around 218 ppi. To protect the smartphone from breaking due to frequent falls, or in others words to make it sturdier, Microsoft has provided Gorilla Glass protection. It showcases a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor with 1GB RAM storage capacity.
Another huge beneficial point in this smartphone is its memory space, that is originally 8GB but which can be expanded up to 128 GB by using a microSD card. This makes it pretty competitive with the Apple (AAPL, Financial) iPhone series or even the Samsung (SSNLF, Financial) Galaxy series currently available in the market.
With respect to its operating system, Microsoft has promoted the Windows 8.1 through this smartphone launch and it comes with the latest Lumia Denim update. The flagship phone sports a 5 MP auto-focus rear camera but lacks a front-facing camera.
As introduced in the new Windows version 8.1, this smartphone has softkey buttons for back, home and search to make things compatible with the OS.
It is powered with 1830 mAh battery and supports 4G LTE, Bluetooth, 3G, Wifi, and A-GPS. Additionally, the smartphone hosts a "Sensor-Core" which allows low-power motion sensing for fitness apps. Thus, though the Lumia 638’s price is cheaper than the latest Samsung smartphones, it’s trying to compete with them to a considerable extent through this launch.
Moving from China to India
Though this smartphone made its debut in early June this year in China, Microsoft was keen on its launch in India as India remains the bright spot for cheaper handsets with extra features. Being priced reasonably, this phone would be exclusively sold through the Microsoft Brand Store on Amazon (AMZN, Financial) India. It seems that Microsoft urges to follow the footsteps of its peers who have recently launched their new models either through Amazon or SnapDeal or Flipkart.com in India. This is also an effect of the recent ecommerce wave that has gained traction in the country.
While speaking on the launch, Raghuvesh Sarup, Director, Marketing, Nokia India Sales Pvt. Ltd,. stated, “With the Lumia range we have always focused on delivering new experiences and features to our consumers at affordable price points. Now, we are introducing Lumia 638 which is the most affordable 4G smartphone on Windows Phone 8.1. It builds on the success of the Lumia range in the fast growing affordable smartphone segment and aims to address the consumers' demand for a device that lets them enjoy uninterrupted video content. We are confident of the success of the Lumia 638 as a comprehensive package and are certain that the device will help us consolidate our position in the affordable smartphones segment further.”
To conclude
Microsoft is trying to barge into the low- or mid-range smartphone market with its attractive offering which might get some buyers from the high-range segment as well in the country. As the sales information of Lumia 638 becomes readily available in the coming weeks, it would give a better picture of whether this launch has been a successful move for Microsoft or not. So, let’s stay tuned and keep watching how Microsoft creates a difference for itself in the Indian smartphone arena.
