Celkon launches India's cheapest Windows phone

The Rs 4,979-priced phone, Win 400, has a 5 MP rear camera with LED flash

Celkon Mobiles, a Hyderabad-based dual-SIM mobile handset manufacturer and wireless solutions provider, today launched Celkon Win 400, arguably India’s cheapest Windows smartphone, with a price tag of Rs 4,979.

Win 400, the first Windows phone from Celkon’s stable, runs on Windows Phone 8.1 operating system (OS). The new handset features a 4-inch high-definition display, powered by 1.2-gigahertz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 chipset and backed by a 1,500-mAh lithium ion battery. It sports a 5-mega pixel rear camera with LED flash and a 1.3-mega pixel front-facing camera.

“Our plan is to bring more smartphones on the Windows platform. The next in line will be a 5-inch Windows phone, which is currently in the testing stage,” Murali Retineni, executive director of Celkon Mobiles, told mediapersons.

According to Retineni, Celkon currently enjoys a four per cent share in the Indian smartphones market and is aiming at taking this to between seven per cent and eight per cent by March 2015.

Celkon is the third Indian original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to launch a budget handset based on Microsoft’s operating system, with the other two being Micromax and Lava International.

While Micromax launched two Windows handsets – Win W092 and Win W121 – under its Canvas series priced at Rs 6,500 and Rs 9,500 respectively earlier this year, Lava launched its first Windows phone – Xolo Win Q900s – at Rs 9,999 in June.

“This (Win 400) would be our most affordable offering. We would like to develop a larger portfolio of Windows phones in association with Celkon,” said Rajiv Ahlawat, director (mobility), Microsoft India.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS was maintaining a second position, behind Android, Ahlawat said.