Firefox OS Phone Review, News: $50 Handsets By Mozilla Coming To India Bearing The Platform; 20 Carriers Making It Available To Emerging Market

Firefox OS phone review, news: The maker of the famous Firefox browser is bringing the Firefox OS to India via $50 handsets. There are 20 mobile telecom carriers making the Firefox OS-powered phones available to the country’s consumers.

The affordable price is being offered thanks to the low-cost chip solutions provided by China-based Spreadtrum Communications and cooperation with smartphone ODMs, according to DigiTimes. Due to this, the handsets were produced at a total cost of $25 each.

COO and Mozilla Taiwan CEO Gong Li weighed in on the launch of the $50 Firefox handsets in the country. DigiTimes posted the statement below on their website.

“Mozilla initially launched Firefox smartphones in the Latin America and Europe markets in July 2013 and has sold about one million units, Gong said. Mozilla has been able to cooperate with only 1-2 mobile telecom carriers in each country in the two regional markets, but will instead cooperate with more than 10 retail chains in India, Gong indicated. Therefore, Mozilla expects better sales performance in the India market, Gong added.”

With partnerships at least five times bigger than what Mozilla was able to create in South America and Europe, plus India being a lucrative market for budget-friendly handsets, Mozilla is hoping for a success.

Mozilla showed off its ridiculously priced smartphone at he Mobile World Congress 2014 in February. According to a review by PC Advisor U.K., the handsets are “not meant to be good.”

“By modern first-world standards, it’s a rubbish phone that doesn’t come with Spotify, nor can you Whatsapp your mates with it or sent rude pictures via Snapchat to would-be partners...yet,” writes the reviewer of the $25 Firefox smartphone.

“What Firefox's smartphone does let you do is browse the web, send emails, play music in the background and take pictures. On the device we played with, there were very few apps installed although we’re assured that the OS also has Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and Pinterest apps working already.”

With availability of handsets that’s only getting cheaper by the launch date for major carriers, time will tell if the low-cost smartphone that rivals a basic phone’s price will make a dent in the market.