India’s government this week, once again, is insisting all cellphones sold in the country have integrated GPS technology from January 1st, 2018. The Department of Telecom (DoT) wants GPS in all phones for more-accurate tracking (than plain old network-triangulation) of its citizens during emergency and non-emergency situations. It claims this is for safety and security.
If the plan is enacted (and it looks like it will be), our Emerging Device Strategies (EDS) service estimates it will push up the average price of a feature phone in India by at least +30%.
Such a large and rapid price increase will hammer feature phone volumes across India and cause much pain for players like Micromax, Samsung or Nokia (HMD). Device and component makers need to be prepared for this change.
2017/07/12 India's GPS Law is Threat to Feature Phones
by Neil Mawston