The search engine giant Google has launched today the first of their Android One smartphones. The first country to see this budget smartphone is India where it can be bought for $105. The initiative of introducing budget-friendly and quality software phones has been praised by many.
Google has a partnership with Indian handset makers Karbonn, Micromax and Spice Mobiles and they want to launch 6,399 rupees phone which will feature Google’s operating system. These budget phones will target the low-cost segment of the smartphones market segment.
After the premiere launch in India, the Android One smartphone, Google is planning to launch it in other South Asian countries like Philippines and Indonesia by the end of 2014. They will expand it to other countries as well starting with 2015.
Goggle is currently working with HTC, Acer and Panasonic to build more smart mobile devices under the Android One brand. With the Android One Google wants to improve the hardware and software quality by giving the smartphone makers a point of reference. If the Android One smartphone will prove to be successful, it will mean that more people will have internet access and also more usage of Google’s products.
Android One was launched in India for $105
Neil Shah, director for devices at the Counterpoint Research stated that:
“After China and the United States, India is the third largest smartphone market in the world and Google won’t like to leave such a huge market in control of brands looking to use a custom-forked Android OS as is happening in China.”
What do you think about Google’s initiative to launch Android One in India? Do you think this will mean better smartphones at a lower price? We would like to hear from you so you can leave your comment in the section below.