New Delhi: The much hyped Freedom 251, touted as a sham until recently, is ready to be shipped by 30 June, the company said in a statement.
The development comes as a surprise to many as Ringing Bells, the manufacturer of the world’s cheapest smartphone, has been in the thick of controversies ever since the grand launch event in February this year.
The Founder and CEO Mohit Goel recently in a media statement said, “We are ready with nearly two lakh ‘Freedom 251’ handsets. We will start delivery from June 30,” adding that this is the first phase of delivery and that the company plans to open registrations again for those who wish to buy the Rs. 251 smartphone.
In a previous report, the delivery date was shifted from May to June and the smartphone was about to be available on cash-on-delivery (COD) mode to those who had pre-booked the device. This is good news for customers as they will have to pay for the unit, only once it has been shipped.
The company had in mid-February this year planned to deliver 25 lakh handsets before June 30. However, it received a whopping seven crore registrations before its payment gateway crashed within three days.
Mohit Goel, Managing Director of the Noida-based company said to media, “We learned from our mistakes and decided to go silent till we come out with the product. Now we have a 4-inch, dual-SIM phone ready for delivery. I feel vindicated.”
He further claimed that the devices are completely ‘Made in India’ and were manufactured at the company’s Haridwar-based manufacturing unit. Also there are plans to sell two lakh devices every month.
Recently, Ringing Bells has also announced the launch of an affordable television set.
