QMobile, in collaboration with Telenor Pakistan, has announced the upcoming release of the new QMobile 4G Plus, the first 4G enabled feature phone in Pakistan, powered by KaiOS.
The phone, which has been in development between the two companies for over a year, is aimed at supporting QMobile’s mission as “Pakistan’s first ever smartphone brand with a mission to empower the people,” according to Zeeshan Qureshi, Chief Marketing Officer of QMobile.
Speaking at the launch event, Qureshi highlighted QMobile’s attempts to tackle the recurring problem of price in the smartphone market, with most smartphones staying beyond the budget of the average consumer, forcing them to stick to feature phones with limited functionality.
In addition to QMobile’s track record of providing high quality smartphones at affordable prices, with the launch of the QMobile 4G Plus, the brand hopes to allow the most price-sensitive of customers to appreciate the benefits of 4G connectivity within the user interface of a feature phone.
To this end, the QMobile 4G Plus will come with Whatsapp, Youtube, Google browser, Google Voice Assistant, and Google Maps built-in, as well as access to the KaiOS Store, allowing customers to download additional apps on their phone.
Supported by 512MB RAM as well as 4GB ROM, the phone will be retailing for less that Rs 4,000, according to Qureshi. Additionally, as a special promotion, customers will also be able to avail three months of unlimited data on the Telenor network.
Also speaking at the event, Mustafa Gillani, Director Product Development at Telenor Pakistan, reinforced the potential of the QMobile 4G Plus to herald the next generation of digitalisation in Pakistan. Gillani highlighted that, despite a cellphone penetration rate of more than 70%, less than half of these users are availing broadband or 3G/4G services, leaving a large market segment available for a 4G enabled feature phone.
Indeed, Ali Rizvi, Vice President at Telenor furthered this point, remarking that, “a digital Pakistan can never be achieved unless the whole market is taken care of,” with products that allow them access to 4G services while remaining within customers’ budget constraints.