Millennials, Gen Z love expensive phones, says RentoMojo CEO

Bengaluru: Millennials and Generation Z mobile phone users, who constitute 70% of the consumer base, prefer using high-end smartphones, said Geetansh Bamania, founder and CEO of RentoMojo, a subscription-based leasing platform.

The Bengaluru-headquartered furniture and appliance leasing startup, has been offering a mobile phone rental service for about a year now.

According to Bamania, Apple, OnePlus and Samsung smartphones are the most popular models among RentoMojo’s users. “If it is a non-committal contract, people tend to take a phone that is a little expensive,” he told Mint, on the sidelines of a press conference here on Wednesday.

According to Bamania, mobile phone companies and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) are investing heavily on research and development. “Typically, the more technologically advanced product becomes co​ol and 70% of consumers want to get their hands on something cool,” he said. The first versions of the phones with technological advancements, whether it is the battery, c​amera or other features, are launched at higher prices, he added.

He also said, based on their research, 40% of mobile phone users want to change their phones within a year of purchase. To cater to this segment, the company, on Wednesday, announced a mobile upgrade feature that enables its users to acquire smartphones on lease and upgrade to the latest phone the following year, without any additional verification or deposit.

A press statement from RentoMojo said their smartphone catalogue includes brands such as Apple, Samsung, OnePlus, Google, Redmi, Vivo, Oppo, Nokia and Honor. Users can lease the phones for 12 or 18 months, by paying their monthly installments. The total amount paid in installments over 12 months works out to about 60% of the price of the phone, the statement added.