JioPhone 2 Launch: Everything You Need To Know

Expect Jio servers to feel the pressure as millions queue up to avail of great benefits when the Jio Phone 2 becomes available during a flash sale on August 16, 2018 from 12 noon on Jio.com.

The second iteration of the JioPhone comes with a horizontal screen and a QWERTY keyboard for ease of typing.

From August 15, JioPhone customers will also be able to start using Facebook, YouTube, and Google Maps. This is the first time these are available on ‘feature phones’. Recently, Counterpoint Research declared that JioPhone has a market share of 47% among feature phone users. The arrival of these apps means that large swathes of their unaddressed markets will benefit from them.

The other popular app — one used by almost every single smartphone user in India — WhatsApp will also be launching on these devices soon. India is already one of the biggest markets for Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube and the launch on these feature phones will only cement India as the number one market for these global giants to be present on.

All of this means that now even those users who had not migrated to smartphones either due to complexity of use or due to affordability will now be able to use the same apps as their smartphone using counterparts. What remains to be seen is how content creators adapt their production to address the needs of this class of consumers.

Key features of the launch

• Facebook, YouTube and Google Maps to launch on the JioPhone and JioPhone 2 on August 15, 2018. WhatsApp will also be available on JioPhone devices soon.
• JioPhone users already enjoy free voice calls and a host of applications with premium content on the go such as JioTV, JioCinema, JioMusic and JioChat.
• The users are also making the most of the innovative Voice Command feature to make calls, send messages, search the internet, play music, watch videos and operate the entire suite of applications available on the JioPhone.
• JioPhone is redefining the way majority of Indians access education, entertainment, information and other important services.