A new Panasonic smartphone hit shelves in India earlier this week. The phone is titled the P100 and aims to target budget-minded buyers. Given that the phone runs for Rs. 5,299 ($82) or Rs. 5,999 ($93), depending on what RAM variants you decide to get, the hardware specifications fit neatly into the same price range. The device sports a 5-inch 720p display with rounded corners, while a 5-megapixel camera is included on the front side of this device. The phone’s rear-facing camera features an 8-megapixel sensor, and each shooter has a separate LED flash. A 2,200mAh battery, rear fingerprint scanner, micro USB port, and headphone jack furnish the exterior. Under the hood, the P100 packs either 1GB or 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a 1.25GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737 CPU. The dual-sim GSM device runs Android Nougat 7.0 and possesses wireless antennas for WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0.
Panasonic has a relatively wide range of smartphone releases across the globe. The Toughpad FZ-X1, a rugged IP68 waterproof phone with a whopping 6200mAh replaceable Li-Ion battery, made its debut in 2014. Last fall, Panasonic produced a device with small bezels that competed with similar mid-range devices. The tech giant has marketed a few other Android devices and a host of non-smart cell phones over the years. Cellphones were much easier to sell when carriers locked devices to specific carriers, but now that unlocked phones are becoming ever more prevalent, original equipment manufacturers must make their own gadgets stand out from the pack in function, price, and availability. Panasonic produces a significant array of other tech products, including computers, televisions, solar equipment, 3D projectors, and more.
While the low-end specs of the new Panasonic P100 smartphone won’t convince a resolute majority to switch, global markets still see a real need and demand for affordable devices to connect people to the internet and to each other. LG, Samsung, Sony, Nokia, and many more manufacturers continue to bring higher-end features to smartphones for lower prices, and Panasonic wants a share of that industry, as there are a number of emerging markets out there that still require sub-$100 smartphones to be available.