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The Realities of a $50 Smartphone

Posted by Soulskill on from the phones-you-tolerate-rather-than-enjoy dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Google recently reiterated their commitment to the goal of a $50 smartphone in India, and a new article breaks down exactly what that means for the phone's hardware. A budget display will eat up about about $8 of that budget — it's actually somewhat amazing that so little money can still buy a 4-4.5" panel running at 854x480. For another $10, you can get a cheap SoC — something in the range of 1.3Ghz and quad-core, complete with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS radios. A gigabyte of RAM and 4 gigabytes of storage can be had for another $10 or so. Throw in a $2.10, 1,600 mAh battery and a $5 camera unit, and you've got most of a phone. That leaves about $9 to play with for basic stuff like a casing, and then packaging/marketing costs (some of which could be given freely, like the design work.) Profit margins will be nonexistent, but that's less of an issue for Google, who simply wants to spread the reach of Android.

141 comments

  1. How to make a $50 phone by OrangeTide · · Score: 2

    Design a $100 phone, and don't sell it through channels that will take a cut, and don't tack on any profit for yourself.

    Sure, it's a good deal for the consumer, but kind of weird to act like this could be a business strategy or that there is really any new technology going into it. Charging half as much by not taking profits isn't exactly revolutionary.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    1. Re: How to make a $50 phone by Hardhead_7 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Google wants to make money off advertising. Plus, if they can become the standard in a huge emerging market, that's playing the long game.

    2. Re:How to make a $50 phone by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      You ignored the hardware cost curve. That phone might be zero margin today, but over its market lifetime (maybe three years) the hardware cost will fall more than 50%, providing a comfortable margin on average.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    3. Re: How to make a $50 phone by OrangeTide · · Score: 0, Troll

      Don't talk to me like I don't understand. My point was that I don't think it's smart business, not that I didn't understand the business model.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    4. Re:How to make a $50 phone by OrangeTide · · Score: 4, Insightful

      As an original developer for the Kindle, I can say with some authority that I know how zero and negative margin mobile devices work.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    5. Re: How to make a $50 phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you think that it is not smart business for a company that is neck deep in cash and profitable to invest in an emerging market then you are a fucking retard.

    6. Re:How to make a $50 phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um, I hope you're not referring to the down payment of a contract cost. Because that's not the real cost of a phone, and doesn't apply in the case of this inexpensive Indian phone.

    7. Re:How to make a $50 phone by OrangeTide · · Score: 2

      There is no contract with the Kindle. You buy it. You can use it, or throw it away, or whatever. If you use it, you might buy some goods and services with it. That was the gamble with that model. But that was also 6-7 years ago.

      I'm not sure if people realized, but the first to generations of Kindle did a little worse than break even, despite their high price. The retail price started coming down once the volumes went up and also the technology around EPD got cheaper too.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    8. Re: How to make a $50 phone by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      The real value, "Power To The People". All people chatting all over the world, the less people will be dying as a result of exploitation, whether war, terrorism, labour abuses, suppression of democracy or of course, racism and prejudice. A healthy, happier more stable global society makes for much better opportunities for good business. Sure it is more insanely profitable to ruthlessly exploit people and feed you ego in doing so but that psychopathic idea unlimited greed is just a sickness that is destroying our world. Yeah, you might die on top but why should we end up all dying out a generation or two latter to feed your ego.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    9. Re: How to make a $50 phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't talk to me like I don't understand. My point was that I don't think it's smart business, not that I didn't understand the business model.

      Why shouldn't we, when you clearly do not understand the business strategy at play here. Just look back at the many other companies over history who have used this very tactic to become the dominant force in the market, owning an entire monopoly.

      You strike me as someone who doesn't get why retailers have sales and promotios either.

      Also, no one gives a shit if YOU, random internet guy, think it's a good idea. A massively successful company worth billions does.

    10. Re:How to make a $50 phone by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      Hell BLU has a nice Windows phone for $54 now and it comes with a 5MP camera with flash and MicroSD support up to 32Gb. They also have an Android with JB and 5MP with flash for $58 and I seriously doubt they are losing money on each sale so I really don't see the big whoop.

      If it works as well as my BLU $100 Studio Mini they are sweet phones as mine has been rock solid stable, takes great pics, gets good battery life, easy to root (took 3 minutes using SuperRoot), just really nice phones.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    11. Re:How to make a $50 phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How to make a $50 phone - Sell a $700 phone to a customer for $50 and tack on $70/mo to their monthly bill.

    12. Re:How to make a $50 phone by Vastad · · Score: 2

      I wanted to give you an 'Insightful' mod point for making a pertinent comment about modern mobile phone contracts.

      But you posted as AC and that would be about as much use as lipstick on a pig.

    13. Re:How to make a $50 phone by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      the article is pretty funny when there's already phones going there.

      nokia x was selling for about 70 bucks give or take, 1.4 years ago. I bet they could have pushed it to fifty.

      and I don't know where you learnt about mobile phone business but 100 dollar phones don't have fifty bucks of profit - there's just too much competition to rake in that kind of money, unless you're an american mobile phone operator and find some very stupid people to sign up to plans where they pay you 100% profit on a phone they think they're getting for free.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    14. Re:How to make a $50 phone by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      $100 retail price - $50 manufacturing cost is not $50 profit. Since I intentionally did not describe all the other costs associated. A normal OEM of course will want to mark the phone up a bit before selling it through channels. The distributor will deal with import/export. And whole sale it to retailers. And retailers will display them in stores. Usually with a contract with the OEM to buy back unsold products. It's not a uniquely American model, and notice I never mentioned carriers. (carriers become the retailers in that model if you are interested)

      Some larger manufacturers do their own distribution. But many work with partners to make things happen, just like has been done with every other durable good for over a century.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  2. They forgot something by invictusvoyd · · Score: 1

    Privacy and Security

    1. Re:They forgot something by rainer_d · · Score: 4, Interesting

      And updates.
      Oh wait, they don't even get delivered to $500 phones in time.
      And few people care.
      I bet the car-industry has wet dreams about the status-quo of security in the mobile handset industry:
      No more recalls, no more consumer-advocate groups calling them out. No law-suits.

      --
      Windows 2000 - from the guys who brought us edlin
    2. Re:They forgot something by jiriw · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Possibly these $50 phones will get better security update support than most $500 phones-with-hardware-vendor-goo. Simply because the operating system on these will be provided directly by the operating system manufacturer (Google) and by contract no vendor-goo will be allowed.

      My phone got pretty much every update between 4.0 and <current release> and I expect to receive updates promptly for quite some years to come. By the way (if you didn't get enough hints), this phone (and my phone of choice) is a Nexus...

      There is only one other significant party in the smartphone market that has the same edge... but the phones they make are too locked down for my personal taste. So I only use those when I have to... at work for testing purposes. (I write app software for both iOS and Android.)

    3. Re:They forgot something by Blue+Stone · · Score: 1

      That's a feature!

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    4. Re:They forgot something by rainer_d · · Score: 1

      It will be interesting to see if Google provides these with timely updates, too.
      And for how long.
      Personally, I just don't trust Google (or any other company) where ultimately the user of the product isn't also the primary customer of the company.
      The same situation ultimately ended up costing Microsoft a lot of money and good-will. They didn't care about users as a long as OEMs - their primary customers - shoved the product onto as many of their customers as they could get their hands on.
      That worked well until a new "OEM" started emerging that wasn't dependent on Microsoft at all (Apple) but sucked most of the profit out of the market anyway.

      --
      Windows 2000 - from the guys who brought us edlin
    5. Re:They forgot something by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The smartphone world is going nowhere unless it becomes more open. Until you can download an operating system and install it on any smartphone, the update situation won't get significantly better. A firmware construction kit like Android isn't going to cut it. ARM needs to set a standard for discoverable hardware.

    6. Re:They forgot something by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just got an update for the stagefright bug yesterday on Samsung/AT&T.

    7. Re:They forgot something by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because these are reference devices built to Google's specifications they'll get updates directly from Google. No carriers involved.

    8. Re:They forgot something by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fact that the update situation is better on the arguably more closed platform says that you're talking bullshit.

    9. Re:They forgot something by Sir+Lurkalot · · Score: 1

      My Sprint HTC one M7 received an update for Stagefright, and some other things, this morning...

    10. Re:They forgot something by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The 'update situation' isn't 'better on a more closed platform', it is better for some companies than for others. Those that take customers seriously (Apple, Nexus line, Sony) publish updates. Those that don't care, like the expensive Korean e-junk outfits (Samsung, LG, whatnot) and the cheap Chinese e-junk outfits, don't.

    11. Re:They forgot something by dbIII · · Score: 1

      And for how long.

      Since most of it is on a virtual machine abstracted from the hardware I'd say just as long as for other models.

    12. Re:They forgot something by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 1

      I get high security from a $50 windows phone.

      It's just not worth it for people to develop virii for the 123 phones in use.

      Seriously... I use a Lumia 521 windows phone. I might go back to android or iphone (had both) but it's cheap and it works. So I might buy a newer phone soon since I dropped mine a couple weeks ago for the 10th time or so and I have a crack. And ... lol, I put that clear packing tape on it and the screen works as good as ever so I'm taking my time.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    13. Re: They forgot something by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My Samsung note 2 and 3 have been getting updates including the lollipop update or whatever goggle called it. They updated with no issues.

    14. Re:They forgot something by dsmatthews9379 · · Score: 1

      If your name is Rahul Patel you don't need privacy because there are about a million other guys with the same name who you can blame for what you have done.

    15. Re:They forgot something by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

      To be fair, screwing up a car is far more likely to put someone's life at risk, so recalls are more important there.

      --
      Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
  3. china has them beat already by kesuki · · Score: 2

    http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_226719.html $40 smartphone. it is on sale i realize that but the same website has many smartphones under $50. are they efforts to get Americans to buy root-kitted phones is the only thing i wonder about.

    --
    https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
    1. Re:china has them beat already by phantomfive · · Score: 0

      Best Buy has a whole section for phones less than $50. Some of them are on clearance, but not all of them.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:china has them beat already by Nemyst · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but that phone's got even worse specs than TFA's. 512mb of storage and RAM? That's gotta be an awful experience.

    3. Re:china has them beat already by aaron4801 · · Score: 1

      I got my kid a $40 smartphone last month. I certainly wouldn't buy one for myself, but as a virtually disposable, entry-level unit, it's fine. People are talking like there is a race to this particular price level, but everybody still racing has already lost.

    4. Re:china has them beat already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here in the philippines there are 3-4 local manufacturers selling android 4.4 phones for under $50.

      Example, myphone.

      http://www.myphone.com.ph/products/rio-craze

      1799 Philippine Peso equals
      38.948 US Dollar

  4. Already running a $50 phone. by Wdomburg · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm actually using a $50 smart phone right now. A Microsoft Lumia 635 that I picked up on Amazon for $49.99 off-contract. Specs are about right - 4.5" 854x480 screen, 512MB ram, 8GB storage, no front camera, 5MP rear camera. It does have a quad-core Snapdragon instead of a Mediatek or Allwinner, but clocked at 1.2GHz, and actually does have an LTE radio and Gorilla glass (the two reasons I bought this instead of the 535, which is newer and has 1GB of RAM).

    Know what? It's a perfectly serviceable phone. I bought it as a spare to use while I get the screen on my Moto G replaced, and in a lot of ways I actually like it better. Windows Phone actually runs surprisingly well on modest hardware.

    1. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by invictusvoyd · · Score: 2, Funny

      Microsoft should pay you $100 for buying that garbage.

    2. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by scream+at+the+sky · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Have you ever used Windows Phone 7 or higher?

      I bought an HTC HD7 ages ago, my only intention was to learn how to use it, in order to sell it, and then flip it a month later. Greedy commission salesman, and such.

      I used it for 2 years, and replaced it with a Lumia 1020 when it died through no fault of it's own, gravity is a cruel mistress.

      I cannot stress this enough, I *loathe* Microsoft, I have been a Debian user since 2001, until I bought a Mac in 2012, and I am still using that 1020, daily, because it just works.

      No, there aren't as many "apps" for it, but the apps that I give a shit about are all there, web browsing, messaging, maps, email, twitter, facebook. And they just work, easily.

      Microsoft got Windows Phone right.

      --
      I wish I was a neutron bomb, for once I could go off...
    3. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only nice thing about WP is that it can import stuff from old symbian phones.

    4. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I kinda feel the same way. I'm definitely not happy with Microsoft taking the Google tact wrt advertising and privacy, for that i'd have to live with the Jolla which was just not good enough last time I tried one. But otherwise the 635 is so much better than the Jolla, except for the cool graphics from Jolla.....

    5. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Tough+Love · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Microsoft got Windows Phone right.

      That may be (or not) but Microsoft's brand has negative value. Nobody buys Microsoft except by force.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    6. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      $100 phone?

      How much is a Microsoft subsidy?

      How much is an extortionate borrowing plan devised by your cell provider to extract a fixed monthly amount?

      You know the price of it but not the value or even the cost.

    7. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 0

      My wife and I both have Lumia 635s now, neither of us were coerced into buying them. They're refreshingly 'clean' compared to Android phones, and were only $70, right from the dumb clerk at Radio Shack. I know we probably could have gotten a better price somewhere else, but buying from a storefront in a strip mall a few miles from us is just convenient as all get-out. And they're great phones. Not a lot of 'apps' except for the relevant stuff that you'd want, as GP commented. Internet Explorer on a phone is a breath of relief, compared to running the Googleplex monster. I did like Firefox on Android, but IE is just more accepted by web sites everywhere.

    8. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by invictusvoyd · · Score: 2

      IE is just more accepted by web sites everywhere.

      They are the kind of web sites I wouldn't visit.

    9. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not a $50 phone. That's what you paid. It cost significantly more to make that phone you're using.

      Hey, everyone, I'm using a Verizon $29 Moto G I bought on Best Buy. Amazing what they can do for $29 duh

    10. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's funny because Microsoft takes it to a whole new level in that POS Windows 10.

    11. Re: Already running a $50 phone. by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

      Except for the maddening transitions that take up so much fracking time and the lack of web browsers that aren't just alternative UIs for IE. Or the ugly single pallette tiles that block your background or the gigantic fonts that make browsing the phone and reading the headings a pain.

    12. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Tough+Love · · Score: 2

      My wife and I both have Lumia 635s now, neither of us were coerced into buying them. They're refreshingly 'clean' compared to Android phones, and were only $70...

      Case in point. Take the same hardware, load Android, stick an LG label on it, and sell it for $150. See, Microsoft can't sell phones, they can only give them away.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    13. Re: Already running a $50 phone. by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      I'd rather just have IE on windows phone then any browser I've ever tried on android. Chrome, Firefox, I've tried many different ones, and none of them holds candle to IE.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    14. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Osgeld · · Score: 1

      yea I have had a couple 50$ smart phones, paid up front no commitment just swapped sim cards

      they suck, but they function well enough, so whats the big fucking deal, damn thing was still faster than my desktop PC 10 years ago

    15. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Osgeld · · Score: 1

      dunno about the nokia but for fucks sake the market is flooded with android 4 50$ smart phones direct out of china that when you include the darn near slave labor probally only cost them 10-15$ to produce and another 5 per unit to cover development cost over the life of the production run.

      and half of them are made by ZTE which is carried by all USA celphone brands including the disposable prepaid phone as official devices, paid in full up front, the 50$ smart phone is 5 years old, out there and making a profit

      though 5 years ago is 5 years ahead of where google is currently with everything getting new web 2.0 interfaces that don't function, outside of android, which made the rest of the company go full blown retard

    16. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Dog-Cow · · Score: 0

      You are the kind of person that the website don't want as a visitor. Neither do your parents, by the way. Stop visiting!

    17. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's funny that not only do you feel the need to defend purchasing MS crap, but where you purchased as well. RS and MS, two turds in the punch bowl.

    18. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Me too. I bought the first iPhone because it was so revolutionary. My friends made fun of me. I like innovation (I also own a Tesla). I work at Microsoft so admittedly I have to have at least one Windows Phone. But I recently bought the Lumia 635 ($30-$50) and find that it is really really good. I miss the excellent iPhone camera and occasionally there is an app that isn't supported on Windows Phone but it's pretty darn good. And I actually prefer the 635 to the iPhone for a couple of things: 1) no front facing camera which I hate and 2) a removable battery. Both of these are good for privacy

    19. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by iampiti · · Score: 1

      I hear Windows Phone is indeed a nice OS. That's great, more competition to the mobile OS landscape and all that. My only problem with it is that Microsoft has been trying to unify mobile and desktop in one OS since Windows 8 and that's lead to a horrible, IMO, desktop Windows.
      Call me silly, but I can't willingly use Windows Phone. I'm that pissed off at MS.

    20. Re: Already running a $50 phone. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here is a search on Amazon India showing around 150 Android smartphones available right now for less than $50/-

      These are not that new to India. People who need smart phones but cannot afford a flagship model do go for these.

    21. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, cheap grey-market, off-brand phones are plentiful - that's why Google can be confident they can pull this off.

      This is still news though. An official Google released product will be an entirely different value proposition to what's currently available from Alibaba, even if it's the exact same hardware.

    22. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm amused at how the smartphones flipped the Microsoft paradigm on its head. For once, MS made a pretty good product (windows phones are fast compared to the android ones I tried) BUT, there's no software for them which is a killer. My wife with her Lumia phone complains that she sees someone advertised on TV and app support only for iphone and android.

      Take THAT Bill Gates! Not fun when you aren't in the standard, isn't it?

      It's not just facebook and email my wife wants to use. There are communications apps that wants that only run on iphone or android. Various invaluable travel apps we could use on the road, etc. Windows for mobile is D.E.A.D.

      What's interesting is that despite there now being a solid user base for OSX, I still rarely see games released to the platform. Millions of kids, even overseas, are now using OSX notebooks. Why aren't these games being released directly to OSX?

    23. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Wdomburg · · Score: 1

      This is an off-contract phone that I'm using with a $30/mo plan. Not much room for a hardware subsidy.

      Entirely possible there is some subsidy, but given that the components in this phone are largely similar to the ones in TFA, I would be surprised if it was much. This is very firmly a budget handset.

    24. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Wdomburg · · Score: 1

      You base your assumption on what? The BOM for this phone is not substantially different than what was discussed in TFA. The Qualcomm 400 is possibly a bit more expensive (estimated wholesale costs are in the $10-15) range, but that is offset by having half the memory and only one camera.

      Microsoft certainly isn't making a bundle on these things, but I seriously doubt it costs "significantly more" than $50 to manufacture.

    25. Re:Already running a $50 phone. by Wdomburg · · Score: 1

      That's ridiculous. A manufacturer paying a consumer for a product they buy willfully and enjoy using more than a competitor's product that cost almost four times more?

      Go away, troll.

  5. The Patent Pool isn't Free by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 3, Informative

    That BOM missed the $60 for patent licensing from the 3G pool.

    --
    I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    1. Re:The Patent Pool isn't Free by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

      Patent licenses are usually included in the price of the hardware component that uses it, which in this case would be the SoC.

    2. Re:The Patent Pool isn't Free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know if most cell phones in India still run on 2G. (All the cheaper 2G phones I looked at were being sold in India, so...)

      I mean, I'm sure India has the newer generations of cell technology, just that much of the population can't afford the phones attached to it.

    3. Re:The Patent Pool isn't Free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Microsoft Android Patents $4 per device.

    4. Re:The Patent Pool isn't Free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorta true. Nearly every manufacturer has caved on this, but I do believe google themselves were willing to fight this.

  6. License costs?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Make sure you have $$ to cover licensing requirements!!

  7. Rocking one now... by RossGreiner · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ... And it works great. Stop buying the bleeding edge Apple 26 or the Galaxy XXIV and you will realize 99% of your apps work just fine on a budget smartphone. It even has removable memory and a card slot. The ONLY negative is a the camera quality is low.

    1. Re:Rocking one now... by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 2

      I still prefer my method of getting a free hands-me-down iPhone from family and friends. My current one is an iPhone 4 that had a cracked back. After a bidding war on eBay, I got a replacement back with the tools needed and shipping included for only $2. The funniest part is, I think it's a genuine Apple part because the silkscreen is not level and so it got rejected in QA.

    2. Re:Rocking one now... by Kenshin · · Score: 1

      I like having a camera that's not a potato.

      --

      Does it make you happy you're so strange?

    3. Re:Rocking one now... by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Your phone is probably so slim that you have to encase it in a plastic potato (that costs you an extra $40) just to feel safe carrying it. Wouldn't want it to get all bendy and stuff.

      My Lumia 635 is fairly slim, and has Gorilla glass, so I carry it completely naked. If it gets damaged (not likely) it was only $70.

    4. Re:Rocking one now... by Kenshin · · Score: 1

      My wife dropped her Lumia 1020, which has a pretty amazing camera, and I had to replace the screen on it.

      --

      Does it make you happy you're so strange?

  8. The realities? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The realities of such a phone can be seen with the FirefoxOS phones. It's possible to make a cheap smartphone, but first-worlders will snub it and those who it's actually designed for are more interested in such phones as status symbols. What you really want to build them for under $100 is a cheap feature phone with a good modern web browser tacked on; one that's highly optimized for low-bandwidth and battery life.

  9. $20 Android 2 smartphone available if you look by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If you are OK with buying 10 or more, you can get android 2.3.3 phones for $20 each. They come rooted, carrier unlocked, and work pretty well. The main feature missing is no LED flash for taking picture, but everything else is there.

    1. Re:$20 Android 2 smartphone available if you look by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

      The main feature is no LED flash for taking picture

      FTFY. IYKWIM.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  10. $5 camera unit by soap_and_dish · · Score: 1

    Ten percent of the budget is going to the camera? Could never make a phone without a camera attached... that would be crazy.

    1. Re:$5 camera unit by Kenshin · · Score: 2

      That's not gonna fly. People are social, and expect a camera nowadays.

      I was talking to someone who ran a photography store, and >90% of the photos they print these days come from smartphones.

      --

      Does it make you happy you're so strange?

    2. Re:$5 camera unit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Definitely. But there are quite good camera chips for ~$1 in quantity.

    3. Re:$5 camera unit by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

      Heh...when I was growing up *cough* if someone had told me that in the future, every phone would have a super hi-res camera built in to it, we would have figured you were crazy. And if you told us it would also be a 1280x768, 30fps video camera too, we would have known for sure that you were crazy. :)

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    4. Re:$5 camera unit by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Are they actually hi-res cameras, or just high interpolation? I'm guessing they're mostly the latter.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    5. Re:$5 camera unit by evilviper · · Score: 1

      Having a camera built-in to a smartphone is a huge advance (and cost savings) over having separate devices. Your phone becomes a bar-code scanner, webcam, video phone, etc, and the convenience and space saved is significant, too.

      Pretty much everybody uses the camera in their phones. Forcing people to buy it separately is just hiding part of the price, that everyone is going to pay, anyhow. Plus extra overhead for connectors, casings, etc, which add nothing of value.

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  11. Doogee X5--$50 quadcore 5" HD screen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Well, $50 buys a lot especially in the world of Chinese smartphones. The Doogee X5 (http://www.doogee.cc/news_detail/newsId=252.html) will be released shortly, and it will cost $49.99 for the base model. It is surprisingly capable with a Mediatek MT6580 quadcore SOC, 5" HD 1280x720 display, 3G radio, 5 MP camera, etc.. The base model has only 1 GB RAM and 4 GB ROM, but for another ~$8 you can upgrade to the 8 GB ROM version. There's even supposedly a higher-end model that is 4G-capable with a Mediatek MT6735 SOC (a very capable 64-bit model), and though the price of this 4G-capable model has not been revealed yet, it will probably be in the ~$75 range.

    1. Re:Doogee X5--$50 quadcore 5" HD screen by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It doesn't matter if it comes with 4GB ROM or if you pay to upgrade to 8GB ROM. Without flash storage, your phone is useless.

    2. Re:Doogee X5--$50 quadcore 5" HD screen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are plenty of high-end phones, even super high-end ones, that have no TF/MicroSD card slot. This is not just Apple, but on the Android side, too...

    3. Re:Doogee X5--$50 quadcore 5" HD screen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ROM means Read-Only Memory. Flash storage is not ROM.

    4. Re:Doogee X5--$50 quadcore 5" HD screen by ThatsMyNick · · Score: 1

      Too bad Doogee is one the worst china phones manufactures. Read https://www.reddit.com/r/china... for more info.

    5. Re:Doogee X5--$50 quadcore 5" HD screen by MrL0G1C · · Score: 1

      He's just copying the site spec's it's obvious some marketing clown has gotten rom mixed up with flash storage - it wouldn't make sense to have different models with just different rom sizes.

      --
      Waterfox - a Firefox fork with legacy extension support, security updates and better privacy by default.
    6. Re:Doogee X5--$50 quadcore 5" HD screen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, it kind of is. More specifically, Flash is an EEPROM - electrically erasable programmable read-only memory. Note the read-only part.

    7. Re:Doogee X5--$50 quadcore 5" HD screen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, it is kind of not. Note the "electrically erasable" part.

    8. Re:Doogee X5--$50 quadcore 5" HD screen by iampiti · · Score: 1

      This is one of those cases where a term was wrongly used an it caught on. I cringe every time I hear it used that way.

    9. Re:Doogee X5--$50 quadcore 5" HD screen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, he's right--they refer to flash storage as ROM. It's not the correct usage, but it is the convention they use...

  12. S3's are $90 on eBay by michaelmalak · · Score: 1

    http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=s3&rt=nc&LH_BIN=1

  13. Just get an old iphone 4S on sale by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh wait that's right... they've done everything possible to remove them from the market unless you're buying a refurb.

    1. Re:Just get an old iphone 4S on sale by Kenshin · · Score: 1

      If "everything possible to remove them from the market" means "not making them anymore", then yes, you're right.

      --

      Does it make you happy you're so strange?

  14. Labor? by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    So these are built with slave labor?

    1. Re:Labor? by invictusvoyd · · Score: 1

      By slave labor for slave customer

    2. Re:Labor? by ramon6572 · · Score: 1

      Do you mean slaves like chinese people in the Foxconn plant manufacturer (which assembly apple products too)? Playing games since i'm a child (today i'm 32 years old), I have read in magazines and internet that every PlayStation released the Sony has to pay everyone that buy this systems on the release and this could keep for months until the price of hardware and the cost of production goes down, is this slave labor? If this companies don't subsidize some part of price in some products maybe the people could never buy their products. Can have problems in this Google marketing model, but about this I can see more earnings than loss. I can imagine that a lot of people which could never have a phone connected to the internet now can buy one, and can learn a lot of things.

  15. Please, you can buy one now retail by ealbers · · Score: 2

    Look anywhere, here
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Huawei...

    Heres a $44 USD phone, same one I bought here in Canada for $49 from walmart.

  16. Atom x3 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can buy a phablet with Atom x3 and Mali-450 for $50 USD today.

  17. So why is the Pi so expensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It sounds like you get a lot of bang for your buck for a small system here. Why are Pis still so expensive?

  18. Microsoft already did it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    In the 3rd world of USA Walmart! The Lumia 635 is usually less than $50 and quite a decent smartphone, in fact, the only one I use until the 640 came out which is $20 higher and has a display polarizer for sunlight, larger display and a front camera. Did I mention the 635 and 640 are both quad core, LTE devices? Oh yeah, they are.

    1. Re:Microsoft already did it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the 3rd world of USA Walmart! The Lumia 635 is usually less than $50 and quite a decent smartphone, in fact, the only one I use until the 640 came out which is $20 higher and has a display polarizer for sunlight, larger display and a front camera. Did I mention the 635 and 640 are both quad core, LTE devices? Oh yeah, they are.

      You also get $50 Android phones in the markets Google wants to push this, and they are quite successful. Problem for Google is that they are all running AOSP and skipping license for Google Mobile Services. In some markets the majority of Android phones are without Google services.

    2. Re:Microsoft already did it by transporter_ii · · Score: 1

      My son picked up a cheap Windows phone. I told him he was crazy. He used it for less than a month and is back on Android. Just as I expected, he hated the Windows phone. Not only the lack of apps, but it was flat out buggy.

      It's not really saving you any money if you have to spend money on a bunch of cheap phones before you find one that actually works! And I know this from experience. :)

      --
      Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, religion destroys spirituality
  19. Re:how about power? by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

    I think the point is information access, not Facebook/Twitter/whatevercrap access. Not everything is about hardware and software either. There's a lot of open, freely available projects out there, such as power generation, lighting, water filtration, housing construction, farming, etc.

  20. Major performance problems at that spec level by allquixotic · · Score: 0

    With specs like that -- the worst of it being the low amount of RAM and the likely extremely slow NAND -- that phone will probably have severe performance problems with many popular apps, even some of the Google apps. I have an old "Android-on-a-stick" device with similar specs from a few years ago that can barely run the Play Store now.

    And I'm not even talking about games. Web browsers, navigation apps, media players, voice assistance, productivity apps, and even shopping list apps have seen increases in their performance demands. They're doing more I/O and have more dynamic functionality than ever before.

    From my experience, you're mostly fine right now if you're running at least a Snapdragon S4 Pro or later (or comparable from other manufacturers). If you have something that benchmarks much slower than that, which is likely to be the case for a $10 SoC (MediaTek?), many common apps will be unbearably slow, even if your network is fast. And the RAM factors in once you consider how many background services are running on Android devices these days. I think my Note 4 has more services running than my Windows 10 desktop that has the kitchen sink of third-party software installed.

    I get what they're trying to do, but people are going to be unhappy with these devices if they try to use them for much more than a literal cellphone.

    1. Re:Major performance problems at that spec level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My cheap Android cell phone has those same specs and it works perfectly fine for web browsing. And it uses a MediaTek chipset.

    2. Re:Major performance problems at that spec level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slow NAND can be a killer, many early Nexus 7 (2012) owners saw this where a bug in the flash controller (or whatever) saw the flash performance turn to crap after a while, it it dragged down the overall performance of the tablet with it, but 1GB of RAM is perfectly fine for a low end phone.

      I've a 2014 Moto E, that has similar specs to the described phone in the summary, and it works fine. The only issue is that 4GB storage can't really do much once you take into account the space used by the system. But for basic usage, as a phone, some email, occasional web browsing, bit of social networking, it is perfectly usable.

  21. The OS was right, everything else was wrong. by Kenshin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I agree. Microsoft got Windows Phone right. The OS is excellent

    They were just years late to the party, decided to go home and change their underwear the moment they got to the party (the WP7 vs WP8 fiasco), found out they didn't actually have any friends (app developers) at the party, and they brought a prostitute (Nokia) as their date.

    --

    Does it make you happy you're so strange?

    1. Re:The OS was right, everything else was wrong. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Microsoft have been putting out smartphone for at least 20 years, well before iphone and android.

      Mind you anyone who tried to configure cellular internet access on windows mobile 6 knows why the iphone succeeded. A byzantine mess of obscure invented profiles versus just entering your apn in one setting... Thus the iphone won despite lacking 3g and gps.

      I used a windows mobile 6.5 kaiser phone and it was ok saved entirely by having google maps, opera web browser and the adequate email client. I paid about 50 dollars for it second hand.

    2. Re:The OS was right, everything else was wrong. by Kenshin · · Score: 1

      Ok, I'll preface it with "they started out with the wrong address for the party".

      --

      Does it make you happy you're so strange?

  22. Re:Goo phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wouldn't call the Indian idiot... you might have to ask a for a job there...

  23. Decent phone $40 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Kyocera Hydro Vibe 4G LTE

    http://www.virginmobileusa.com/shop/cell-phones/kyocera-hydro-vibe-4G-LTE-phone/features/

  24. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  25. $50 seems good enough to me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I picked up a LG Tribute for $40

    This phone has pretty much everything my phone from 3 years ago has, with far superior battery life, at 1/6th the price.

  26. Re:Goo phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Indian part is not important here , the idiot part is . There are plenty of em in murika too . Just look at assbook .

  27. 59 eur is awful close to $50 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Although it is not a $50 phone, it is worth taking a look at the Gigabyte GSmart T4 Lite. http://www.gsmarena.com/gigabyte_gsmart_t4_(lite_edition)-6585.php

    Has all the specs mentioned in the initial post, and even supports a dual sim config. As far as I know it is not available in the USA, but I did pick one up in eastern Europe last month to serve as a mobile wifi hotspot with local (cheap) data plan. it got the job done, and when I returned to the states, I found it works just fine on the ATT network. Kid got contract free smartphone - as long as I get to borrow it when I go overseas again... :)

  28. Re:coolpad, ten bucks by Scoth · · Score: 1

    You're looking at carrier-subsidized prices. The "free" phone you get for signing up for accounts still costs some amount, often a non-trivial amount. I picked up a $10 Coolpad Arise myself for testing some things, and even though there's technically no contract involved it's still been subsidized by the carrier expecting you to then pay them for service. The $50 smartphone is $50 retail, out the door, full cost nothing added or removed, direct from the vendor.

    This is a bigger deal for developing countries who don't have carrier subsidization, old phone clearances, etc.

  29. I don't always respond to ACs, but when I do... by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

    Not really defensive, I'm just frustrated that people weren't able to follow my original post and felt the need to post patronizing responses.

    also, sounds like you might be projecting a bit.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    1. Re:I don't always respond to ACs, but when I do... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have projected my penis up your mom's twat.

    2. Re:I don't always respond to ACs, but when I do... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In all honesty, she said you were so small, you couldn't project very far.

  30. Smart phone? Nope by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

    I don't want a smart phone, but I'd sure like a small, rugged reasonably high quality "dumb" phone.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    1. Re:Smart phone? Nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am the same, I still have not owned a smart phone, the cost is still not worth it to me. The sad part is that I could afford to spend those thousands of dollars on smart phones in the last few years, but I know people who live paycheck to paycheck and refuse to downgrade to a cheaper phone.

    2. Re:Smart phone? Nope by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Using a Samsung dumb-as-rocks phone myself, $12 at Walmart. It's been banged around and nearly crushed a few times and you can't tell it's ever been out of the packaging.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  31. Microsoft tax by robi5 · · Score: 1

    What about the extortion fee that other Android phone makers pay?

  32. ROM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

    1. Re:ROM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I certainly know what ROM is--I started working with computers in the early 80's... In the world of Chinese phone manufacturers, flash memory is called "ROM" probably because when you turn the phone off, and then back on, what you stored is still there. Yes, I recognized this is not what would be called "ROM" in the traditional sense in the word, but this is how it is used with respect to flash memory on phones.

  33. Microsoft beat Google to the punch by strstr · · Score: 0

    Microsoft has their Lumia 635 or 640. Feat. 1280x720 res. Quad core. 1GB ram. WiFi. GPS. LTE. 8GB flash. Camera.

    Cost was $99 then $63 last winter. Now the device costs $40 dollars from some sources, such as Metro PCS.

    Metro PCS also has several android devices selling for $50.

    My understanding is some carriers are jacking up the prices on devices so some of these devices cost $120 or more elsewhere.

  34. Re: Goo phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Instead of always claiming America, why don't you say France, Britian, Greece, or Russia? Considering the fact that the whole world is full of idiots. I'm guessing you are one as well because you just had to jump on the I hate America too bandwagon to be with cool kids. I'm sure your parents are proud of you.

    Moron

  35. Camera.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I never understood why the cheap phones have a camera.... Leave it out and spend the money on something more usefull, or make the phone cheaper. the image quality on them cheap cameras is horrible, atleast in the sub 50€ phones I've bought for my kids.

  36. So last year ... $30 smartphones are all over by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    These $30 phones are particularly nice to use, but they are there. Just go to walmart and there is at least one on every carrier.

    Example: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Straight-Talk-LG-L34C-Optimus-Fuel-Android-Smartphone/36202741

    The sweet spot -- phones that are nicely usable -- is under $100 though. I just switched to verizon prepaid ($45/mo) and chose the $70 Moto E for my phone. If you go tmobile, the walmart family mobile plan is as low as $25/mo. The wireless market is wonderfully pro-consumer right now. Its a welcome change from the iPhone-or-bust era where the phone was $500 on contract for $120/mo.

    I see the prices in the US bottoming out at around $10-$20 and wireless service getting down to $5/mo from mainstream carriers (its already there at freedompop.com). The experience will always be pretty shitty at that price point, but it'll be there.

  37. Re: Goo phone by cthulhu11 · · Score: 1

    Or the OP who seems to have written "re-iterate" with a straight face.

  38. Easy solution to 50$ smart phones. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My brother just picked up a 20$ pay as you go smart phone at T Mobile a few weeks ago.
    Could They just buy piles of these 20$ phones and sell them for 50$?

  39. remember OLCP ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    OLPC made a full linux computer for 100$ a decade ago and google is not able to do a 50$ phone , laughable