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Sundar Pichai, the new CEO of Google may want to introduce more products revolving around Android One devices. But, for India, he may have to rework his strategy as his earlier attempt with the product has not seen much success.
Also, competition is now tougher from the likes of Xiaomi and OnePlus.
According to analysts and industry veterans, the Android One devices which were launched by Pichai in India last year along with partners such as Micromax, Spice Mobiles and Karbonn Mobiles has not seen much acceptance.
He also will have to consider the cost factor. Last year he had launched Anroid One handsets under $100 (around ₹6,500), but others have launched better products at the same or lower price.
Google’s marketing strategy around Android One also did not work out well. For example, Lava Mobiles that recently launched an Android One device — Lava Pixel V1 – is priced around ₹11,400 and Google is just the software provider.
However, Google’s partners are not complaining yet. “It was a good product with better features as Google would never allow low quality at lower price. We will continue this type of collaboration with Google,” Pardeep Jain, Managing Director, Karbonn Mobiles, told BusinessLine .
Lava Mobile also accepted that Android One was not only about low-cost devices, but better experience and rich features to compete in the market.
“Definition of Android One is also expanding and even at more than ₹10,000 plus handsets, we are contemplating better products and features. It is at growing stage and acceptance will be better,” S N Rai, co-founder and Director, Lava Mobile, said.
According to analysts, last year the competition was from companies such as Samsung and Micromax, who had put lot of investments on new and low-cost devices, which was competing with the Android One handsets.
“The acceptance was lukewarm earlier, but since services and software are getting better, the acceptance in future would grow,” Sanchit Vir Gogia, Founder and CEO at Greyhound Research, said.
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