The Upcoming Smartphone Launches in 2017

Sanjeev Bhatia, Co-Founder, Onlymobiles.com

January to March is usually the period, where we witness maximum new launches as most MNCs start introducing their flagship models in India – post their Christmas sell. It is very difficult to predict all the anticipated models for the entire year but Q1 of 2017 is looking very promising as of now.

So, let me take thru with most anticipated mobile phones across various price bands.

Less than Rs.3000

Jio Smart Feature Phone – this is one phone, which can launch as early as last week of January. This phone is rumored to work exclusively on 4G network and can provide plain voice calling facility. This one is masterstroke from Jio to get more customers on board riding on their free voice plan and cheaper data plans.

Rs.3000 to Rs.8000

This is going to be the hottest segment going forward. We are going to see many frequent new launches mainly from Samsung & other small companies.

Samsung J1(4G) – Samsung have already announced this model and it will attract lot of traction as it is one of the cheapest offering from Samsung for lower price segment.

LYF Wind & Water Series – LYF is already seen aggressively pushing their wind series in this segment and now the 2GB RAM with 5-Inch models are already priced at just around 5k price point.  I am anticipating few more launches in this segment.

Tecno Mobiles – After successful launch of iTel mobiles, the very same group is gearing up right now for Tecno brand launch in India. The company is expected to roll out with 1 Year Replacement Guarantee on all their smart phones. TecnoCamon C5, Camon C7, Camon C8 and Camon C9 are expected to make big impact with their aggressive prices and 1 year replacement offer.

Rs.8000 to Rs.15000

OPPO A39 & A57 – Oppo is about to announce the launch of Oppo A39 &Oppo A57 as their replacement of one of their top selling model – Oppo A37. Currently there is vacuum and Oppo don’t have any presence in this segment as they have already stopped pushing their Neo 7 & A37 actively.

Vivo Y66L & Y66 – Vivo have already introduced Y66 in global markets and they may launch Y66 or slightly trimmed version Y66L in India to accommodate offering in this price bracket.

Vivo V5 Lite Vivo V5 Lite is trimmed version of Vivo V5 Plus and company is expected to make announcement in next few weeks time.

Lenovo K6 Note which is already launched and met with good success. Both variants – 3GB RAM & 4GB RAM have found good acceptance among consumers because of the great build quality at this price segment.

Nokia Models – Though they will not be available commercially till early April, but we are expecting at least 2-3 models from Nokia to be in this price segment. And company may announce them in more details during MWC 2017 – in February.

Samsung J Series (2017) ­these new phones have already hit the FCC certifications and Samsung can announce them as early as January last week – as the company have slowed down the supply of their popular model J2 in the market.

Samsung Galaxy J2 Ace – the launch of the model is just around the corner and going to priced at Rs.8,490 – this is samsung’s efforts to regain the market share in value segment.

Rs.15,000 to Rs.25,000

Honor 6X – highly anticipated global model – which officially unveiled during this CES and quickly getting launched in India. The model is going to get launch in 2 variants and 3 colors – 3GB RAM + 32GB Memory & 4GB RAM + 64GB Memory.  The model will be available in the last week of January.

Vivo V5 Plus – Apparently, going to be India’s first smartphone with dual front camera and going to be priced around 20k.

Oppo R9 – Since Oppo is phasing out F1 Plus – they will introduce Oppo R9s or R9 Plus or R9 – which have met with great success in south east countries.

Samsung C5 Pro – Apart from Samsung C5 Pro – company is also expected to launch C7 Pro & C9 Pro in Indian market before February end.

Camera & Battery proposition is what going to drive almost all launches during Q1-2017.  Apart from the above models – there are also going to be many launches from other brands like Asus &Gionee. Seems, customers are going to get spoiled with never before choices.