Amazon, Flipkart festive season sale: Top five deals on premium smartphones

Both the e-commerce players have already unveiled the upcoming deals, which includes discounted prices, exchange offers, bank offers and no cost equal monthly instalments

Festive season is around the corner, and like every year, global e-commerce giant Amazon and home-grown e-commerce portal Flipkart are hosting their biggest sale ( Great Indian Festival and Big Billion Day sale, respectively) starting from October 10. Before the sale, however, both the e-commerce players have already unveiled the upcoming deals, which includes discounted prices, exchange offers, bank offers and no cost EMIs. While most of the deals are applicable on budget and midrange smartphones, premium devices such as OnePlus 6, Samsung Galaxy S9, Asus Zenfone 5Z, etc. would also be a part of sale deals.

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Here are deals on five premium smartphones to look out for during upcoming sale

OnePlus 6

This Amazon-exclusive smartphone was launched earlier this year in three RAM and storage configurations. Priced at Rs 34,999 for the base model with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, the OnePlus 6 would be available at a discounted price of Rs 29,999 – Rs 5,000 less than the original price. As a part of festive sale offer, Amazon would also be offering one-time screen replacement add-on worth Rs 12,000, along with several exchange offer and no cost EMI.

Samsung Galaxy S9

This flagship smartphone from the Galaxy S-series was also launched earlier this year at Rs 62,500. During the festive sale offer, Amazon would be offering flat Rs 19,510 discount, which brings down the effective cost of this smartphone to Rs 42,990. Amazon is also offering Rs 3,000 addition exchange value discount, along with nine months no cost EMI.

ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy S9+ review: King of low-light photos

Asus Zenfone 5Z

This Flipkart-exclusive smartphone was launched in three RAM and storage configurations – 6GB/64GB, 6GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB – at Rs 29,999, Rs 32,999 and Rs 36,999, respectively. In the festive sale, all three variants would get an upfront discount of Rs 5,000, which would bring down the effective cost of all three variants to to Rs 24,999, Rs 27,999 and Rs 31,999. Flipkart is also offering 10 per cent instant discount to HDFC card holders, along with no cost EMI, mobile protection at Rs 399 and assured buyback value of 50 per cent, if exchanged within eight months, at Rs 199. As a part of sale offers, the company is also offering additional exchange value of Rs 3,000 on OnePlus devices. (more)

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E-commerce firm in process of getting NBFC licence, to lend to consumers and sellers initially

In a move that could disrupt the consumer lending segment, e-commerce giant Flipkart is set to enter the financial services space, offering credit and insurance products to consumers and sellers on its platform.

The Bengaluru-headquartered firm has begun the process of applying for a non-banking financial company (NBFC) licence, which will allow it to open lines of credit to its 100 million-odd customers and over 100,000 sellers. In time, the company will offer these services beyond its platform, taking on firms like Paytm and Bajaj Finserv.

It is also partnering insurance companies to co-create micro-insurance products that will align with a customer’s e-commerce journey, according to the company. “Our vision for fintech at Flipkart is to create highly differentiated financial solutions for our customers, both consumers and sellers, leveraging data and technology to make it very inclusive, simple and transparent,” said Ravi Garikipati, senior vice-president and head of financial services at Flipkart. “A strong understanding of customers helps us arrive at credit-risk profiles very differently and will play a big role in underwriting.”

Currently, over 60 per cent of the consumers shopping on Flipkart do not have any access to formal credit. This deters them from making large purchases on the platform, which, the company says, hinders its growth. While Flipkart has for some time partnered banks and Flipkart NBFC to offer customers EMIs on making big purchases, it says a gap still exists.

On the seller front, Flipkart scrapped its lending programme after it witnessed gaps in the speed at which credit could be delivered to them. Garikipati says the new products will reduce the time taken for sellers to access credit from a few days to a few minutes or even seconds. The company is also looking at lending to sellers from its own balance sheet.

“Be it consumer lending or seller lending, we have a hybrid strategy. We are planning to apply for an NBFC licence on our own and when we have that in place, we would like to drive most of the loans using our own balance sheet. It is not exactly a marketplace, but a curated set of partners who will work with us,” added Garikipati, who in his previous stint served as the CTO and head of engineering at Flipkart.

On the insurance front, Flipkart will at first partner select insurers to offer byte-sized micro insurances pertaining to specific purchases on its platform.

For instance, customers will be able to buy a comprehensive protection plan for their smartphones right on Flipkart and sellers will be able to insure their products against damage in the reverse shipping process.

Asus to launch Zenfone 5z with notch display, Qualcomm 845 SoC on July 4

Unveiled at the MWC 2018, Zenfone 5z was the first Android smartphone to sport an iPhone X-inspired notch and system-wide AI capabilities, along with a dual camera set-up on the rear

Asus, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, is gearing up to launch the Flipkart-exclusive Zenfone 5z in India on July 4. The e-commerce platform recently listed the teaser page, confirming the launch of premium smartphone in India.

Asus Zenfone 5z was first unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in February, alongside Zenfone 5. Both sport similar glass-metal-glass sandwich design and feature a dual camera set-up on the back. However, the processor, RAM and storage configurations set them apart.

In terms of features, the Zenfone 5z boasts 90 per cent screen-to-body ratio, thanks to its 6.2-inch fullHD+ screen covering almost the entire front. The 19:9 aspect ratio leaves just a small notch on top to accommodate an 8-megapixel camera, earpiece and sensors – just like in Apple iPhone X but smaller.

On the back, the smartphone sports a dual-camera set-up, which features 12MP and 8MP shooters.

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The primary 12MP sensor boasts f/1.8 aperture. and the 8MP sensor features 120-degree wide-angle lens. Both front and rear cameras are backed by AI for automatic scene selection and portrait photography, and machine learning to improve the output by learning usage patterns.

Zenfone 5z sports a 2.5D curved glass on the front and back, supported by a metal chassis. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 system-on-chip (SoC), paired with 6GB RAM and a host of storage options starting from 64GB.

When unveiled, Zenfone 5z and Zenfone 5 were the first smartphones in the Android realm to feature iPhone X-inspired notch-based screen. They were also among the first generation devices to offer system-wide artificial intelligence-based utilities such as automatic scene selection and setting optimisations in camera, auto ringtone adjustments and optimal battery utilisation etc. However, both the notch-based screen and the native support for artificial intelligence have become a common proposition in smartphones.

Flipkart lists Reliance JioFi WiFi hotspot JMR815 at Rs 999: Details here

JioFi 4G WiFi hotspot is capable of attaining a download speed of up to 150Mbps, and upload speed of 50Mbps. It features a circular design and allows up to 32 simultaneous connections

Reliance Jio has added a new 4G LTE hotspot model to its portfolio of JioFi devices. The new model, dubbed the JioFi JMR815, is currently available on Flipkart at a price of Rs 999. However, the JioFi is not yet listed on Jio’s online portal.

The JioFi 4G WiFi hotspot, according to the Flipkart listing page, is capable of attaining a download speed of up to 150Mbps, and upload speed of 50Mbps. The device features a circular design, unlike the oval design of the predecessor.

It allows up to 32 simultaneous connections – 31 WiFi and 1 USB – to connect over Jio’s 4G network for accessing the internet. The device also allows HD voice calls and video calls on non-4G phones via Jio 4G Voice app.

JioFi 4G WiFi hotspot JMR815In terms of features, the device has power buttons, along with WiFi Protected Setup (WPS) button for instant connection. There are notification lights for battery, 4G connectivity and signal strength. It is powered by an ALT3800 processor and supports 4G connectivity at FDD-Band 3, Band 5, and TDD-Band 40 – supported by Reliance Jio.

JioFi 4G WiFi hotspot JMR815The new JioFi hotspot device also sports a a microSD

card slot to augment storage to up to 64GB. The device is powered by a 3,000 mAh battery.

Adding to the cart: Flipkart to launch Billion, its own smartphone

The firm will launch Capture+ under the Billion brand on Wednesday

Flipkart, the country's largest e-commerce marketplace, is launching its own smartphone on Wednesday.

Flipkart own smartphone : On Thursday, the company put a 'teaser' of the device on its website, showing features such as dual cameras, fast charging and unlimited cloud storage. The phone will be launched under the Billion brand and is named Billion Capture Plus . Flipkart also boasted a service network that spans 130 cities.

The teaser did not disclose the price.

Unlike major rival Amazon’s attempt at building a smartphone, which tried to compete directly with the likes of Apple’s iPhone, Flipkart is largely targeting the mid-range smartphone market. The similarity between the two companies is that both are targeting the country's most voluminous smartphone segment.

While iPhones were and are still among the best-selling smartphones in the US, prompting Amazon to go after that market, those costing between Rs 10,000 and Rs 13,000 make the largest chunk of smartphones sold online in India. What Flipkart will be aiming to do differently is actually sell some of its devices.

Launched in July 2014, Amazon’s Fire Phone was among the biggest failures in the company’s history. After spending years in research and spending millions to develop, sales never took off. Largely due to extremely experimental features that failed to catch the public fancy, which was in tune with the features of an iPhone, a Samsung Galaxy device, or a Google Nexus.

The firm has not revealed detailed specifications. The company seems to have put together a device with features customers search for the most on its platform when buying other phones, at a price point where it sees most of its action. (more)

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 with flagship specs, 18:9 screen launched: Know everything

At Rs 35,999, the Mi Mix 2 is an affordable Android challenger with bezel-less screen to rival iPhone X

China-based phone maker Xiaomi has launched its flagship Mi Mix 2 smartphone in India at Rs 35,999. The smartphone will go on sale through online sales partner Flipkart, Mi Store and offline retail stores starting from the first week of November.

Built on the concept of Mi Mix, which was the first bezel-less smartphone and the first to take refugee from 16:9 aspect ratio screens, the Mi Mix 2 brings host of new features along with top-notch specifications under the hood. The smartphone sports 5.99-inch FHD+ screen in 18:9 aspect ratio, which covers almost the entire front with almost no bezels on top and sides. The bottom area also has limited bezel that houses the front camera. With extended screen aspect ratio and minimum bezels, the phone manages to house a larger screen in a frame equal or less than a 5.5-inch screen smartphones.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2

The Mi Mix 2 takes a move from piezoelectric speaker solution, which was used in Mi MIX, and the second-generation uses a hidden speaker that only takes up a thin sliver of space between the top edge of the phone and the screen. The smartphone boasts ceramic back with four-sided curves, which blends seamlessly in frame made of aluminium 7-series.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2

For seamless connectivity across the globe, the smartphone supports 43 network bands including CDMA networks. The smartphone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, which comes coupled with Adreno 540 graphic processor unit (GPU) for immersive graphics. In terms of camera, the phone sports a 12-megapixel rear camera, which utilises Sony IMX386 sensor, assisted with 4-axis optical image stabilisation (OIS) that reduces the effect of handshake or motion, so images and videos remain sharp. (more)

Flipkart-eBay India merger done; sellers can now take products global

Indian Companies News

Flipkart, India's largest e-commerce marketplace said it will begin offering the global inventory of eBay to Indian consumers while taking the products of thousands of sellers in the country to eBay's customers globally.

This comes after Flipkart completed the takeover of the India operations of eBay.

In a deal announced in April, Flipkart raised $1.4 billion from global technology majors eBay, Tencent and Microsoft. In exchange for an equity stake in Flipkart, eBay had made a cash investment and sold its eBay.in business to Flipkart.

Flipkart will now own and operate eBay.in, which however will remain an independent entity.Additionally, both companies are also partnering to leverage opportunities in cross-border trade. As a result, Flipkart customers will get expanded product choices with the wide array of global inventory available on eBay, while eBay customers will have access to more unique Indian inventory from Flipkart sellers. The partnership will thus provide a new opportunity for Flipkart sellers to expand their sales globally, the firm said in a statement.

"Being an early mover, eBay.in has a unique standing in the Indian e-commerce market, which is a great addition to Flipkart's leadership position. Our coming together directly benefits Indian customers and sellers for whom we want to provide the best possible e-commerce experience. This is a step in that direction," Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said in the statement.

UDAN scheme: TruJet to add 10 destinations with 7 aircraft

The airline started operations in July 2015, currently catering to 7 destinations with 16 flights

Hyderabad-based TruJet, one of the private airlines, which has bagged travel routes under UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme is planning to add 10 destinations with seven aircraft.

The airline started operations in July 2015 and is currently catering to seven destinations with 16 flights.

Antara Dey, spokesperson of the airline said that over the next two years, the airline is planning to add 10 destinations with seven aircraft. Of this, five will be under UDAN scheme, including Mysore, Bidar, Hosur, Salem and Vidya Nagar.

Alliance Air, the regional arm of Air India, SpiceJet and TruJet have won rights to operate flights under the government's regional air connectivity scheme, which seeks to give people from Tier-II and Tier-III cities a chance to fly at a ticket price of Rs 2,500.

Company News : Airlines operating under the UDAN scheme have to ensure that the prices of at least 50 per cent of the seats on their flights are available at a price of Rs 2,500 each for an hour of flying.

The Centre and state will provide viability gap funding for the airlines operating on the UDAN routes to ensure profitability of these flights.

Trujet is planning to deploy ATR72-500/600 with a 72-seat capacity.

Dey, mentioned earlier, said that the airline is looking at 77 per cent PLF (passenger load factor) and expects to make money in a year.

She added that the airline is funded directly by promoters and do not have any plans immediately to look at external funding. (more)

Flipkart's largest unit posts hefty revenue growth, cuts losses

Any reduction in losses could mean the return of investor confidence, something Flipkart needs badly

Breaking News : Flipkart India Pvt Ltd, the largest unit of India's biggest e-commerce marketplace, was able to increase revenues by 43 per cent and cut losses by over 34 per cent in the financial year 2015-16 as investors began to mount pressure to see tangible results.

The Flipkart unit posted a revenue of Rs 13,177 crore for the 12 months that ended March 2016, compared to the Rs 9,226 crore in revenue it posted in the year ago period. Losses shrunk to Rs 544.6 crore, from Rs 826.7 crore in the corresponding periods, according to regulatory documents filed by the company.

While losses for its cash-and-carry business were down, it was offset by the higher losses posted by Flipkart's marketplace arm, bringing the total loss of the company to Rs 2,850 crore. The combined revenue for the two units stood at Rs 15,129 crore for the financial year.

Flipkart has set up a complex holding structure, with several entities listed in Singapore, making it hard to ascertain the exact revenue and loss figures.

Despite hefty growth in revenues in the previous financial year, investors continued to punish Flipkart's valuation. After a series of markdowns by mutual fund investors, Morgan Stanley set a valuation of just $5.58 billion for the three months that ended September. Flipkart had enjoyed a peak valuation of $15.2 billion, making it among the top valued start-ups in the world.Read more.

Flipkart lists 'Amazon exclusive' OnePlus 3 at Rs 18,999

Of late, Flipkart hits the controversy by putting up a banner listing the sale of OnePlus 3 smartphone, which is exclusive to Amazon India, for under Rs 20,000 during the big billion sale, which started today i.e. on December 18.

While the listing brought a lot of attention from prospective buyers, it came as a shock to OnePlus CEO, Carl Pei who took to Twitter asking Flipkart’s co-founder Sachin Bansal to clear the ambiguity around the sale of OnePlus 3 on Flipkart.

The tweet saw no reply from Flipkart or from Sachin Bansal and soon Amazon India took to Twitter to warn customers to buy OnePlus 3 from Flipkart ‘on their own risk’.

.@_sachinbansal brother, what's this? We're exclusive with @amazonINpic.twitter.com/0QBoyagoXz

— Carl Pei (@getpeid) December 16, 2016

There is still a lot of ambiguity around the issue, but for Flipkart things are as normal as they ever were. The company has put up a sale of OnePlus 3 device at Rs 18,999, which will start at 4 pm (IST) on December 18. On product page, the device details ‘1 year warranty’ on smartphone and ‘6 month warranty’ on accessories.

OnePlus 3 at Rs 18,999 is a deal that will stupefy many but with all the controversy surrounding it worth to take the risk and buy it from Flipkart?

Google launches AI-powered Pixel smartphone; will cost Rs 57,000 in India

Google launches AI-powered Pixel smartphone; will cost Rs 57,000 in India

With an aim to lead the world of Smartphones with its artificial intelligence (AI)-based technology, Google on Tuesday launched much-awaited Pixel — a new premium device completely designed by the tech giant with Google Assistant built right-in — at a special event here.

India is among the first six countries where Pixel is being launched. Starting at Rs, 57,000, it will be available for pre-order in India starting October 13 on e-tailer website Flipkart and at over 1,000 plus multi-brand retail stores, including Reliance Digital, Croma and Vijay sales, among others.

The launch also ended the Nexus branding under which the company has always released phones in partnership with other original equipment manufacturers like LG (for Google Nexus 5) and Huawei (for Google Nexus 6P).

Although HTC has manufactured the smartphones, the new device bears Google branding.

With curved sculpted edges and a unibody made up of combination of aerospace grade aluminum and glass, the device comes in two sizes — 5 and 5.5-inch with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protected super AMOLED display. Pixel is available in two — quite black and very silver colours in India.

Pixel is first smartphone with Google Assistant — a built-in AI programme that works as an intelligent personal assistant and knowledge navigator.

With the Google Assistant, users can have a natural conversation with Google to find answers or get things done on the go. Say "Ok Google" or touch and hold the Home button and the Assistant is ready to help.

"Ask it for a brief update on your day or to play a video on YouTube, look up traffic on the way home from work, find photos or when the nearest pharmacy closes. The Assistant can also offer help with what's on-screen in any app. So if your friend texts you to meet up at a new restaurant, you can just say 'navigate there'," the company said in a statement.Read more

IPL viewership on Hotstar doubles in 2016

STAR India’s online video streaming platform Hotstar has more than double its reach (unique viewers) for IPL in the past one year. For all the games played until the play-offs (between April 9 and May 22), 80 million people used the service, compared with 35 million a year ago.

The cash-rich Twenty20 tournament came under STAR India’s digital ambit in 2014 when it was made available on starsports.com. Last year, Hotstar was introduced, helping viewers see the tournament on the new app.

The network seems to be on track to achieve the target of reaching100 million IPL viewers this year. “We have seen the adoption of Hotstar as primary screen increase significantly among the urban affluent youth. At 80 million (unique) viewers before the play-offs, I expect the platform to add another 15 to 20 million in reach over the last leg of the tournament,” says Ajit Mohan, CEO, Hotstar, STAR India.

Total IPL watch time on the app has gone up by 60 per cent over 2015. The key to increasing the reach, according to Mohan, lies in the data-rich experience. Additionally, the application streams live scorecard and analysis before and after the match, as well as between the innings.Read more.

Flipkart opposes entry tax by states: Why it is a fight to the finish

The products you buy online are likely to get costlier if state governments have their way. Uttarakhand government has imposed an entry tax of 10 per cent on goods purchased from e-commerce firms. Bihar and Assam have already imposedan entry tax, which is now likely to be imposed by several other states.

An entry tax is a tax that a state government imposes on goods coming in from other states.

Naturally the e-commerce industry is crying foul as it increases the cost of the goods for its customer. Flipkart has already moved the Uttarakhand High Court (HC) against the 10 per cent entry tax. In a petition filed with the court in February, Flipkart argued that the state’s move to impose such a high entry tax was discriminatory.

This is a classic case of fight between two parties, both claiming to be victims.

It is an established fact that aggressive pricing by e-commerce companies has not only hurt the brick and mortar retail setup but has also affected the companies themselves who follow such predatory pricing. Most of the e-commerce companies operating in India are making losses as they fight for market share under-pricing each other, in many cases below the cost of purchase. In the process the mom-and-pop retailer shop, are also taking a hit. Madhya Pradesh’s finance minister is on record saying that 20-30 per cent of the state’s commerce has shifted online.

From the e-tailers point of view, imposition of entry tax is an additional barrier and goes against the spirit of free access to market. It is a case of the honest taxpayer getting taxed twice. Taxes are imposed at the point of sale and then again when it enters a new state (entry tax). E-tailers are complaining against this double taxation which is increasing the cost of goods for the final customer.

State governments have a point when they say that e-commerce companies have impacted their tax collections. Sales tax revenue has fallen as shops in the states have either closed down or have posted lower sales. These governments want their pound of flesh in tax collection from the goods that are sold in their state without paying any taxes as well as want to protect their local industry, which in many non-producing states are these small retailers.

We can draw a parallel between the actions of the state governments with that of the centre who decided to impose high level of taxes (import duties) on steel imports. Cheap steel was destroying the domestic industry leading to closure and loss of jobs. Similarly cheap goods from e-commerce companies who have the benefit of bulk purchase and are not the manufacturers themselves, has been destroying the state’s industry, employment and government’s revenue. In order to safeguard these, the entry tax seems to be a solution, however crude it may appear.