JioPhone Next Launch In India Delayed Due To Global Chip Shortage

Last Updated on September 14, 2021 by Asif Iqbal Shaik

Reliance had unveiled the Reliance JioPhone Next and announced some of its features and specifications during its Annual General Metting (AGM) in June 2021. Some more specifications of the ultra-affordable smartphone were even revealed by an extensive leak last month. The JioPhone Next was set to go on sale in India on September 10, 2021, on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. However, the company has now revealed that it has delayed the JioPhone Next India launch due to the ongoing global semiconductor shortage.

JioPhone Next India Launch Postponed To Pre-Diwali Festive Period

In a joint statement, Reliance and Google mentioned that “Both companies have begun testing JioPhone Next with a limited set of users for further refinement and are actively working to make it available more widely in time for the Diwali festive season. This additional time will also help mitigate the current industry-wide, global semiconductor shortages.”

Reliance claims that it has plans to launch the JioPhone Next in India before Diwali 2021, during the festive season. Since Diwali is taking place on November 4, 2021, we can expect the telecom giant to unveil its affordable Android smartphone sometime in October 2021.

The global semiconductor shortage has been affecting multiple smartphone manufacturers, PC makers, other consumer electronics companies, and even automobile brands. Additionally, due to an increase in the demand and supply issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple smartphone brands have increased the prices of their devices. The same semiconductor shortage issue has led Reliance Jio to postpone the much-awaited JioPhone Next launch in India.

JioPhone Next Specifications

The JioPhone Next features an IPS LCD display with HD+ resolution (1,440 x 720 pixels). The device is said to use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 processor under the hood. The smartphone might come with 2GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The rest of the JioPhone Next specifications include a 13MP primary camera (OmniVision OV13B10 sensor) at the rear and an 8MP selfie camera (GC8034W sensor).

As confirmed by Reliance Jio earlier, the handset will offer some cutting-edge features like a digital voice assistant, automatic read-aloud of screen text, language translation, and a smart camera with AR (Augmented Reality) filters. The device will run Android 11 Go out of the box and come with Google Mobile Services (including Gmail, Google Assistant, Google Drive, Google Maps, Play Store, YouTube, and more).