A COMEBACK, A DISASTER AND AN ANOMALY

MAY YOU live in interesting times! You may be familiar with the phrase, but not its source. It’s a loose translation of a purported Chinese curse, one that ironically denotes that ‘interesting times are full of disorder and chaos’. Well, the phrase is currently very apt for the world of mobiles.

Demonetisation is a big shock to the system. In our country, most phones under 20,000 are bought in cash (just easier to buy a new phone every three months with unaccounted income). This isn’t going to be an easy recovery at all. There will be a lot of collateral damage that follows with some of the smaller Indian and Chinese brands shutting shop in the next few months. Cheap phone wars and ridiculous online your ears. Usually, HTC would get the phone right and screw up the price. Not this time. It’s priced at about 25,000 for a flagship. HTC seems to have understood the market and may be able to whip-off the demonetisation shroud.

BLACKBERRY: THE DISASTER EXPERTS

BlackBerry came out with more new phones in India and managed to make the same mistakes all over again. None of them have a keyboard, the pricing is still way off and the phones aren’t competitive with other Android phones. The only thing they have going for them is that they are the most secure phones you can buy. Unfortunately, in typical BB fashion, the launch was low-key and this one big differentiator was spoken about almost in whisper mode. With WhatsApp going into ‘won’t work on BlackBerry phones from December 31, 2016’, this was the time for BB to launch a BlackBerry Android with a classic keyboard and sell it in millions. They have managed to screw up royally once again! Demonetisation will hit BB harder than ever before.

VIVO: THE ANOMALY AGENTS

A phone with a front camera that has a better sensor than the one at the back? A Vivo phone that is priced at around 18,000? An expensive phone that comes with a plastic body and not even a full HD screen? Yes, the Vivo V5 has all these anomalies and more. Its main USP is a 20-megapixel front camera with a LED flash that has been rebadged as a ‘Moonlight Dew Flash’. In a world where selfies, and now, video calls rule the roost, this is a great move. The back camera is 13-MP and not a very good one. The strange thing is the price. Vivo is an economy and budget brand, Oppo plays the field in the medium range while OnePlus hits out at the higher levels. Many don’t know that all three brands are basically owned by BBK Electronics. And for them to get a Vivo take on Oppo and OnePlus with a very mediocre phone is strange. Watch this Vivo phone tank under the demonetisation onslaught.

Many more launches are planned in the coming weeks. It’s time to review phones based on features, form factor, hardware and the demonetisation effect. The DM factor will determine the success or failure of a phone for the next six months.