BANGALORE, India — Google chose India to introduce on Monday the first of a series of affordable smartphones under its Android One initiative, a bid by the company to win over the “next billion” users in emerging economies.
The phones, starting at 6,399 rupees, or about $105, are entering what already is the world’s third-largest smartphone market behind China and the United States. But it is also the fastest-growing: Demand is exploding as first-time phone buyers, as well as those making the transition from low-tech feature phones, rush to buy ever cheaper and more sophisticated devices.
Google said it intended to take Android One elsewhere in South Asia in the coming months, and to markets like Indonesia and the Philippines.
The world is increasingly going online through smartphones, said Sundar Pichai, Google’s senior vice president for Android, Chrome and apps, as he introduced the line of phones in New Delhi. He added, “We’re making it easier for our partners to build phones that are not just great to use, but also affordable.”
Vishal Tripathi, principal analyst at the research firm Gartner in Mumbai, said the project was “a novel move to enhance user experience at the lowest end of the pyramid through controlling both the hardware and the software — and, if successful, Google could have a winner on its hands.”
Google joined with three Indian device makers, Micromax, Karbonn and Spice, and the phones will be sold only by the country’s biggest online retailers — Amazon India, Flipkart and Snapdeal.
India’s smartphone market is expected to double by 2018. The International Data Corporation, a research firm, said smartphone shipments grew 84 percent in the second quarter of this year, compared with the same period last year. More than 18.4 million smartphones were shipped in the quarter.
The Android One program gives Google an opportunity to dominate the mobile market in emerging economies. The phones will come bundled with its search engine and other apps, which will have advertising.
The phones are by no means the cheapest in the Indian market. Just two weeks ago, the local device maker Intex introduced a $35 smartphone with an operating system from Mozilla’s Firefox, a rival to Google’s Android.
Android One will intensify the price race in the already competitive Indian market, where more than 80 device makers are battling for market share and even $100 phones can be considered expensive, said Hemant Joshi, a partner at the consulting firm Deloitte Haskins & Sells.
Phones that cost less than $25 are needed, Mr. Joshi said, especially because the government is promoting a huge digitization drive in which many services will be delivered via mobile phone, in sectors like finance, health care, education and farming.
“A mobile revolution is around the corner as falling phone prices drive mass adoption,” Mr. Joshi said.
Date: September 15, 2014