Locally branded smartphones have been creating much more buzz than they used to, particularly now that the specs and user experience have reached a point where they are at par with smartphones from more established international brands. All that while only costing anywhere from 35 to 60 percent as much. All that’s well and good, but what I’m interested in is when smartphones from local brands such as Cherry Mobile, MyPhone, Starmobile and Torque start making the shift toward Full HD screens.
It’s no secret that all of the local phone brands simply source their phones from existing OEM devices and then slap their own brand on them (except for Starmobile, which sometimes designs their own phones but has them manufactured in China to cut costs). So far, most of the phones and tablets we’ve seen from these brands have had WVGA or FWVGA screens, but we’ve already started to see tablets like the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt and Starmobile Engage 7HD sport higher quality IPS screens with resolutions of 1280 x 800. While there are already rumors of several Chinese manufactured phones with HD screens that could possibly end up being rebranded here in the Philippines, China is already churning out 1080p phones that are easy on the pocket. Among them is the Neo N003, which is the cheapest at $149. That’s equivalent to just Php6,000!
It’s pretty obvious that the next trend in smartphones is aiming toward 5 inch Full HD screens, but right now the only phones in the local market to sport such screens are in the high end segment from established international brands like HTC. It’s only a matter time before our local brands start importing Full HD budget smartphones, but just how soon remains to be seen. It might still be a far way off since most locally branded phones top out at WVGA and FWVGA resolutions, but since China is already churning Full HD phones out for cheap, it might be even sooner than you think. Curious as to what 1080p phones might actually end up here? Check out this post by Gizchina here.
Source: Gizchina
For me, it doesn’t really matter who among the local brands will introduce the 1st Full HD. What matters is the price+performance. Oh well, i’m pretty sure who among them has the balls to do it.
Not sure about Full HD, but it looks like Cherry Mobile is introducing an HD phone this monday. Gonna be there to see it 🙂
yeah i read that one too. CM & Mobiletechpinoy keeps me up on my toes. Looking forward to your coverage.