World's cheapest smartphone: £10 DataWind mobile set for December release date

If you're fed up with paying a premium for your technology then you'll be pleased to hear the world's cheapest smartphone will launch this December and will cost a mere £10. The handset from Canadian manufacturer DataWind and Indian telecoms company Reliance Communications won't deliver bleeding-edge technology but its price tag will open-up the smartphone market to millions.

The phone will land in India on 28 December costing 999 rupees (£10, $15). It will be a basic affair running a Linux-based operating system with 2G connectivity and likely feature a single-core processor and standard definition display. Further specs, images and model name have not yet been released but based on the price we wouldn't expect it to be any larger than 3.5in - the size of its current cheapest offering, the PocketSurfer 2G4.

If the £10 price wasn't tempting enough it will also come with 12-months' worth of free mobile internet access and will come bundled with RCom's service offering of Facebook, WhatsApp and email. A useful combination that is aimed at first-time smartphone users who simply want to access mobile data affordably.

DataWind is a champion of affordable technology having previously launched the world's cheapest tablet, the UbiSlate 27Ci at a cost of £29.99, and says it is able to produce such low-priced products as a result of sliding processor and memory prices. The company is willing to take a hit on the hardware cost as it aims to generate income through services.

"Our big focus is on network services, apps and content. Hardware today is a customer acquisition tool. Once people start using it, we can make money through service offerings," Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of DataWind, told the Economic times.

The cost for an iPhone 6s 128GB in India is roughly 85,000 rupees (£855) and has been identified as the most expensive place in the world to buy Apple's latest flagship device. While the likes of Apple and Samsung dominate UK and US markets, the most popular mobile handsets in India actually come from the budget offerings of China's Xiaomi and local brand Micromax, so DataWind's supremely cheap smartphone could be a huge hit with Indian consumers.