Vodafone pins hopes on $99 smartphone

Vodafone Australia will this week unveil its first ever budget smartphone with a price tag of just $99.

The Huawei Ascend Y550 features a 4.5 inch screen, Google Android software and a 5-megapixal camera, News Corp reports.

Vodafone Australia sales director Ben McIntosh said the company had stocked up on the phone as it was predicting it would "sell like hotcakes" when it goes on sale tomorrow.

“We’ve brought as many as we could get into the country,” he said.

“We’ve pushed the boundaries on stock. It’s the biggest single handset deal that Vodafone has ever done in Australia.”

The deal on the smartphone was done by the telco globally, he said.

“The closest competitor is at least 50 percent more expensive,” he said.

Telstra’s cheapest 4G smartphone is currently the Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 that costs $179, while Optus offers the Alcatel Pop S3 for $149, the media outlet said. IT expert Trevor Long told A Current Affair the phone was comparable to other top level phones on the market.

"There's nothing this phone can't do that a top level Samsung can do, it's just going to do it either a little slower or not as good quality," he said.

"If you can get a $100 phone and get 4G speed it's a pretty good deal."