印度最便宜智能機開始發貨了
Freedom 251 smartphone’s shipping starts, how far can the company go
自由251智能機開始發貨了，公司能走多遠
He has done the easy part. On July 8, Mohit Goel, founder of Ringing Bells, the maker of what has been touted — with more than a fair bit of derision — as the world’s cheapest smartphone, personally hand-delivered the first Freedom 251 to Ankita Birla, a 27-year-old vendor coordinator at an electronics company in Noida’s special economic zone.
7月8日，鈴響公司的創始人Mohit Goel，也就是生產出世界最便宜智能機的那家公司的創始人，親手把自由251智能機遞給第一位客戶，27歲的Ankita Birla。
Like many who would have placed an order for the smartphone, Birla was sceptical about actually receiving it. “I never thought they would deliver. I too thought that the company is a fraud,” says Birla, who had become the butt of jokes in her social circle for registering with the firm online. A flurry of negative reports about the company and the controversies they were mired in, such as relabelling an existing brand, defaulting on vendor payments and flouting safety norms, only reinforced her suspicion.
跟許多已經下單的客戶一樣，Birla 也是懷疑是否能真的收到貨。“我從來沒想過他們會發貨。我也以爲這家公司是騙子。”Birla因爲在網上訂購這部手機而在自己的社交圈子成爲笑柄。隨後傳來這家公司的一系列負面報道和爭議，比如重新貼牌已有品牌，拖欠客戶款，違反安全標準等，這些問題進一步加強了她的懷疑。
Goel uses the moment — and the photo-op — as an opportunity for redemption. From being branded a fraudster to being accused of running a Ponzi scheme, Goel was “crucified” on the cross of cynicism. “They wrote my obituary,” says the 29-year-old Goel, visibly relaxed in the corner room in his office in Phase II of the Noida SEZ. “But I have delivered what I promised.”
Goel利用這個自我救贖的機會。從被標榜爲騙子，到被指責策劃了一場龐氏騙局，Goel被“釘上了”十字架。“他們寫下我的訃告。”29歲的Goel說。“然而我已經兌現了承諾。”
The last statement may, of course, be premature. Goel may have convinced Birla that Ringing Bells “is for real” but now he’s got to do it at least another 1.99 lakh times. After all, the company had promised to deliver 2 lakh handsets out of 7.5 crore people who registered for Freedom 251.
最後一句也許說得太早了。Goel也許已經讓Birla相信鈴響公司是“來真的”，然而他也許至少要重複19.9萬次。畢竟，公司已經承諾向訂購自由251智能機的7500萬人中的20萬人發貨。
On Friday, Goel claimed Ringing Bells delivered some 2,200 handsets — most of them via courier. He promises to deliver the remaining 2,800 — 5,000 is the target set for the first phase — by Monday.
週五，Goel稱鈴響公司已經發出了大約2200部手機，大多數是他通過快遞發出的。他承諾在週一前發出剩餘的2800部手機，而5000部手機是第一階段的發貨目標。
