India has had some more success with price point and it’s here a re-launch of Android One is set to take place in “the next few weeks” according to Mr Anandan.
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Google’s Android One aims to offer stock version of the mobile OS and the promise of updates to the next version on low-budget devices. Also, Google’s very own Rajan Anandan, the companies managing director in Southeast Asia, stated that Google will also be focusing more on services designed for Android One smartphones.
While Google doesn’t make any of the hardware that’s sold through the Android One program the company does provide OEMs with a set of hardware standards which they have to adhere to, so in a way Google can control both the hardware and software experience of these low-cost devices. The stiff competition from Redmi 1S (then priced at Rs 5,999) and limited offline retail support were the two main reasons behind the mediocre sales of the Android One devices.
After launching alongside a major marketing push last year, the project has largely been a disappointment.
Google, Inc.’s drive into the Indian smartphone market is about to get a refresh with a report over the weekend that the tech giant is planning to “reboot” its Android One platform in the country. In fact in near future we will see Android One devices from the company under the sub 3,000 INR mark thanks to their Indian partners like Lava, Karbonn, and Micromax etc. The project has spread to seven countries since its launch, but numbers for these other countries likely don’t look any better. Part of the issue is that manufacturers working on the slimmest of margins can’t differentiate, especially when Android One mandates that they must use an unadulterated version of Android.
For Google, Android One is important, though products under the branding have struggled to compete against phones from Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Lenovo and local brands like YU.
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Google’s Anandan admitted to The Financial Times that Android One has “not delivered to expectations”, but he maintained that the company is “very committed” to the initiative. The services should build on the company’s existing efforts to make its products more friendly for low-bandwidth environments, like offline YouTube and Google Maps, as well as faster-loading search pages.
