Reliance and Google’s plan to disrupt the Indian smartphone market has been disrupted by Covid-19

The global semiconductor shortage is roiling the manufacture of all sorts of high-tech products, from cars to televisions. Now it is delaying Reliance and Google’s big plans for India’s smartphone market.

The two companies are partnering to make JioPhone Next, an ultra-cheap 4G smartphone aimed at getting hundreds of millions more Indians onto Jio’s cheap high-speed data network, and further fuelling the market for internet services here.

Delayed launch

The phone’s highly anticipated launch was set for September 10, but instead, Jio, Reliance Industries’ telecom unit, sent out a release announcing the last-minute postponement of the phone’s unveiling.

The companies said that they had made “considerable progress” on the phone, which is in testing with a limited number of users, and are working toward launching at the Diwali festival season in November when people often shell out on new products as gifts.

“This additional time will also help mitigate the current industry-wide global semiconductor shortages,” said Jio and Google in a joint statement.

Indian tech firms are highly dependent on semiconductor imports.

When Jio first began offering phones, news channel NDTV reported that the phones were using components from US chipmaker Qualcomm. Meanwhile, Chinese chipset maker Unisoc, a unit of the financially troubled Tsinghua Unigroup, has said in the past that it is working with Indian phone manufacturers, including Reliance Jio….

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