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There’s only one problem: the factories that will make the phones haven’t been built yet.

India’s Ringing Bells Pvt. has really made a name for itself in the past few weeks with the announcement of their 251-rupee (US$3.67) Freedom 251 smartphone—proof that a super-cheap product is a surefire way to get worldwide attention even when you’ve only been in the business five months.

There seems to be a small catch in the business model that will rocket Ringing Bells to the front of the Indian market, however. While you can place a preorder for their smartphone—a unit that costs less than a meal at a fast food restaurant—the factories that are supposed to assemble it don’t yet exist.

▼ A minor detail that hasn’t stopped people from ordering them.

Even with a silly little thing like “no manufacturing facility” standing in their way, the proposed technical specifications of the phone are driving consumers into a tizzy. With a purported four-inch display, 3.2-megapixel camera, eight gigabytes of storage and an Android OS, many people are wondering how a phone like this could be sold so cheaply without the company running into real financial trouble.

▼ The phone may run the Android OS, but it look suspiciously like an iPhone.

▼ And then there’s this confusing image that looks nothing like the phone above.

There are plenty of other questions that need to be answered, but the rumor mill puts the release date of the Freedom 251 on June 30 this year. Is this too good to be true or a serious new player in the smartphone market? Only time, and the cellphone factories, will tell.

Source: Sankei News
Top Image: Facebook/Freedom 251 smartphone