Android One to cater 1 bn Indian users: Google's Pichai

Written By Unknown on Senin, 15 September 2014 | 23.25

Sundar Pichai, VP-Android, Google said Android One would give the company a chance to address one billion users in India who do not have an access to internet.

The phones will be high quality smart phones with latest software backed by Google but at the same time we are also helping our partners to build the hardware needed to affordable high quality smart phones, said Pichai.

Google launched the first smart phones under its Android One project in India , pricing them at around Rs 6,399 to capture the low-cost segment of the world's fastest growing smart phone market.

It has tied up with Indian mobile players Micromax, Karbonn and Spice Mobiles to launch the affordable phones, which are powered by its operating system and aimed at emerging markets.

With regards to the tie-up, he said the company will provide the base platform which will be maintained and updated by them but will allow partners to customise them.
 
Answering a query on why Samsung has not been a part of this project, he said "We are two big companies, so there are times when we do stuff different from each other." However, Samsung still remains our largest partner and we owe them a lot for the success of android, he added.

According to Caesar Sengupta, product management director, Google said Android one is an extension of the android program.

Also read: Why Android One is a historic launch for Indian phonemakers

Below is the transcript of Sundar Pichai's and Caesar Sengupta's interview with CNBC-TV18's Malvika Jain.

Q: You are the man of the moment. Google has unveiled Android One today – the much awaited device. How are you positioning it in the market and how is it going to be a differentiator as far as Google is concerned?

Pichai: For us Android One is really important because it gives us a chance to address the one billion users in India who don't have access to internet. Our differentiated approach is we are building high quality smart phones with software backed by Google. We will make sure it is the latest and the greatest software running Android but at the same time we are helping our partners with building the hardware needed so that you can actually build a affordable yet high quality smart phone.

Q: Initially if I am correct you have partnered with three companies, Spice, Karbonn and Micromax. However if you are giving them an interface how are these devices going to be any different? Where does the creativity component come in?

Pichai: We provide a base platform which we maintain and we update but we allow them to customise on top of it. You have to understand, the launch of today is just the first step in our journey. We launched all of Android few years ago with one phone. Similarly we are doing it with three phones but you will see choice and customisation on top of Android One increase very widely over time.

Q: So, all the rumours that relationship between Samsung and Google are tensed right now are baseless?

Pichai: It is quite boring to write that things between Google and Samsung are actually working well. I think that is the source of lot of this.

Q: Spice being one of the companies that you have partnered with, the price point of the current product Android One starts from Rs 6300 approximately. There are Smartphone's in the market which Spice has launched, Intex has launched in partnership with Firefox which are priced at less than half of this price. So, how are you going to meet that price point?

Pichai: I am very comfortable and I have always said this over time, people in India are very demanding, they have the same aspirations as that of people in the United States etc. It is very important to deliver a minimum high quality experience. You want this to be a real computing experience and so for us that being the goal, we are trying to do that at the best possible price. I don't think today it is possible to do that at a price which is half of what we have done.

I think what matters much more is that we actually onboard people and give them really powerful experienced which is what we are trying to do.

Q: The sense that one gets is that you are optimistic that in future it might be possible to bring down the price?

Pichai: In the future both will happen. I think you will see things which are cheaper but almost all the people who come in, just like we see everywhere else will aspire to upgrade and to get better experiences over time. So, there will be demand for even better quality phones in the future.

Q: As far as Android One as a program is concerned this is your first global launch which kick starts from India. However is this program going to expand to other parts of the world?

Pichai: For us it is exciting because we actually are viewing India as our trial country. So, we want to launch this in India and learn but use it as a place from where we take it to other places around the world. So, it is unique for us. Normally, we do stuff in the US and US is our trial country and we take it elsewhere but we are doing this differently.

Q: Which are those countries going to be and who all are you going to partner with in those countries?

Pichai: We are excited to take this to Indonesia and Philippines as well as countries in South Asia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. We have invited more than 10 new partners to the fold. So, you will be seeing a much wider choice of Android One devices, larger phones etc over time. So, it is very exciting.

Q: As far as the manufacturing base in India is concerned, the government is providing a lot of incentives. Is there a possibility that Google would setup its own manufacturing facility or this program is going to be implemented only in partnership with other companies?

Pichai: Everything we do in Android is in partnership with other companies. However, since we develop reference hardware, at the right point in time if there is a vendor in India who can manufacture a lot of these components, we would be happy to qualify them and work with them and we would do that as a priority.

Q: When you talk about partnering with other companies, is that a strategic move? We are talking on the sidelines of a NASSCOM event where you spoke to entrepreneurs, is there any project that Google is going to be launching or has already launched to foster entrepreneurship in India and is there any message that you would like to give to entrepreneurs?

Pichai: At a high level I see a palpable excitement in India. The level of confidence, the maturity I see in startups is noticeably different than what I had seen in my past visits. India is unique because it is a big local market. When you look at China, a lot of startups there succeed because they have a large user base. India is poised to reach half a billion internet users and so my advice to entrepreneurs here would be to think bigger. We are trying to create a platform so that they can reach these uses at scale and if entrepreneurs here think bigger, they have the access to the resources, and they have the capability to make a big impact on the global stage.

Q: App developers around the world have complained though Android is the biggest platform on which they are operating that the customisation, the ability to customise that Android provides actually sometimes poses a challenge for them. So, do you see Androids flexibility as a double-edged sword?

Pichai: It is both an opportunity and cause for some challenges. It is some of what we are trying to address with Android One. With Android One when I talked about a consistent base platform, it also makes it consistent for developers as well. So, we are trying to preserve the flexibility and innovation on top of Android while at the same time make it more consistent both for users and developers; so it is the balancing act.

Q: How is it going to be any different from the usual Android phones which are available in the market?

Sengupta: Android One is an extension of the Android program. The software is the same; the big differences are the software on this is directly from Google. What we have done is worked with our partners to create a turnkey solution that lets our hardware OEM partners, phone manufacturers bring products to market at a very low cost at a very high quality.

Q: Samsung is nowhere on the list. Is this in some manner a way to move away from Samsung even though it continues to be a market leader? They are working on their own operating systems, so is this like some sort of a back up plan that Google has come up with?

Sengupta: Absolutely not, Samsung is a very close partner. They are one of the most important partners for us on Android. They have shipped amazing phones on Android and we actually work together with them on many initiatives. In fact as Sundar said we are now working on more initiatives on Samsung than ever before.


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