Benzinga | Jun 24, 2021 12:45PM EDT

Google, Jio Reveal India's Budget Smartphone: Bloomberg

* India's Reliance Industries Ltd's billionaire CEO, Mukesh Ambani, showcased the JioPhone Next handset co-developed with Alphabet Inc's (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, to tap India's substantial first-time smartphone user base, Bloomberg reports.

* Ambani emphasized the importance of an ultra-affordable 4G smartphone at Reliance's annual meeting on Thursday. The device will run a re-engineered version of the Android operating system.

* Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai joined remotely to add that the JioPhone was built for India and would deliver translation features, a voice assistant, and an excellent camera.

* JioPhone's Next handset is slated for a Sep. 10 debut ahead of India's festival season.

* Jio has over 423 million users of voice and data services in India.

* Google Cloud technologies will form the basis for Jio's upcoming 5G wireless solutions and serve the internal needs of online services like Reliance Retail and JioMart, Ambani said.

* Asia's richest man aiming to turn an oil-and-petrochemicals giant into a homegrown tech leader, presented the new device amid supply chain headwinds.

* The launch comes nearly a year after Google acquired a $4.5 billion stake in Reliance Industries' digital arm Jio Platforms Ltd.

* Global tech leaders like Google and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) have jumped on the Reliance bandwagon to grab a slice of India's 300 million first-time smartphone user market who are estimated to start accessing the internet by 2025.

* Competition looms in the form of established peers like China's Xiaomi Corp (OTC:XIACF) (OTC:XIACY), Oppo, Vivo, and OnePlus with high specs at low prices.

* Price action: GOOG shares traded higher by 0.62% at $2,544.95 on the last check Thursday.