In 2020, Google invested $4.5 billion in Reliance's Jio Platforms for a 7.7% equity. The flagship product of this alliance was a budget friendly 4G smartphone priced at Rs 6500 called JioPhone Next. The idea was to make the internet more accessible to millions of more Indians.
When it was launched, the telco was expected to sell at least 20 million devices in a year. But so far, it has sold only 2 million.
A tech giant and a telco giant coming together to make a pocket-friendly smartphone--the plan sounded perfect. What could've gone wrong?
