In the first quarter of its inception this year, Reliance's home-grown brand of smartphones, Lyf, became the fifth-largest selling smartphone brandin India. The devices are reportedly sold through 1.2 lakh retailers, and now the company is keen on selling its phones online as well.
The Lyf Water 5, a five-inch smartphone, was launched earlier this month, and is currently sold via Amazon. According to an Economic Times report, Reliance Digital is keen on partnering with Snapdeal and Flipkart as well, especially since one third of the smartphones sold in the county are through online marketplaces. The report also hinted that Reliance may consider an e-store for the devices through the two e-tailers as well.
Reliance's Lyf phones are capable of connecting to 4G networks. The company is reportedly banking on its smartphone customers to join its Jio 4G network once it is launched. "The response has been good and the company wants to expand the online sales network since each handset sold will create a customer for the 4G services when it's launched," ET quoted an industry executive as saying.
The executive added that Reliance isn't interested in getting into a price war with other smartphone brands in the market as they would be vital to grow Reliance Jio's user base.
According to the executive, Reliance will also be partnering with brick-and-mortar chains to sell exclusive models.
