Karbonn Mobile Sparkle V launches in the UK, £99 Black Friday deal

Indian affordable smartphone maker Karbonn Mobile has launched in the UK with its Sparkle V exclusively via Amazon. As a Black Friday special offer, the device will be available for £99 for one day only, after which it will be available at the current price of £129.

The dual-SIM Sparkle V, which is Karbonn’s flagship device, runs on the Android One platform and has a 4.5” 1.3 Ghz quad-core screen. Memory-wise the device offers 4GB ROM, 1GB RAM and 32GB via MicroSD, and it has front and rear cameras of 2MPs and 5MPs respectively. It is being brought to the UK market by Santok, a London-based mobile device and accessory manufacturer.

“We are pleased to be launching this device to the UK exclusively through Amazon.co.uk,” Santok Head of Sales, Deborshi Sarkar said. “It really is an impressive smartphone and offers consumers something very different in terms of price, but retains the highest quality in its design and form.”

Santok has already launched with Karbonn in Spain and Romania earlier this year, and is looking to target France and Italy next year. “We are also looking at Eastern Europe, but France and Italy are our main targets for next year. [Outside the European market] we also launched in LatAm, in Mexico. In Africa we are launching with Jumia through a similar partnership as with Amazon,” Sarkar told Telecoms.com.

In the UK, the Sparkle V will only be available through Amazon until the end of 2014, but Sarkar said Santok is currently in talks with several retailers to have the device more widely available next year. “Our target market… are tech-savvy consumers but also quite price-sensitive. Nowadays the consumers, even in mature markets and brand-sensitive markets like the UK, are starting to understand that having a high-spec device doesn’t merely command an expensive price tag.”

It will be interesting to see how well this is received, and whether the fact the device is initially only available through Amazon will gain it enough attention. The success the smartphone receives with the online retailer could potentially also make or break its future with other sellers.