Homegrown wearable maker Fire-Boltt to enter smartphone space under Boltt branding

Fire-Boltt is preparing to enter the smartphone space in India with a new brand called Boltt, launched in partnership with Flipkart. The Made-in-India brand will offer 4G and 5G phones under the Evo and Ace series.

In Short

• Fire-Boltt enters the smartphone market in India
• The new smartphone brand called Boltt
• Flipkart will handle distribution

Fire-Boltt is stepping into the smartphone business. The company has announced the launch of Boltt, a new Made-in-India smartphone brand that will sell its devices through Flipkart and other retail channels. The company said the move builds on its existing base of more than 4 crore users and aims to sell 1 million smartphone units as it expands beyond wearables.

What Fire-Boltt's new smartphone brand brings

Boltt will offer both 4G and 5G smartphones under two series, called Evo and Ace, aimed at the affordable end of the market. The company says the phones are manufactured in India. Fire-Boltt hasn't shared specific specifications, pricing, or a launch date for individual models yet, saying more details about the lineup will follow in the coming weeks.

Speaking about the launch, Boltt founder and CEO Arnav Kishore said, “With Boltt, we are bringing together our consumer insights, technology expertise, and commitment to India to create smartphone experiences that are designed for the country and built for its future.”

Flipkart partnership and distribution

For distribution, Boltt is partnering with Flipkart, using the e-commerce platform's reach across metro cities as well as smaller Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. Flipkart's Mukund Kedia said the company's logistics network and experience in non-metro markets would support Boltt's nationwide rollout.

The launch marks a shift for Fire-Boltt, which has so far been known for smartwatches and other wearable devices. With Boltt, the company is now entering India's budget smartphone segment.

Fire-Boltt's entry into the smartphone space comes at a time when the industry is itself experiencing rising memory costs and component shortages. Although the memory shortage has been making headlines in the news for a while, the major shock came recently when big names like Apple, in a single move, increased the prices across MacBook and iPad by a steep jump of up to Rs 1 lakh. And the price hike is not some unique phenomenon confined to Apple only; other smartphone makers like OnePlus and Nothing have already increased the prices of their devices for quite some time. Now it will be interesting to see how Fire-Boltt keep its promise of delivering affordable smartphones amid the ongoing chip crisis.

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