NEW
DELHI: Buoyed by the initial response to Android One smartphones,
chipmaker MediaTek has said it expects as many as two million handsets
to be sold this year in India, the world's second largest market for
mobile phones.
The Taiwan-headquartered company has partnered
with US-based tech giant Google on Android One, an initiative to provide
a family of high-quality yet affordable Android devices for consumers
in emerging markets like India.
Yesterday, Google launched
three devices in partnership with Micromax, Karbonn and Spice under the
Android One initiative. India is the first country to have the Android
One handets, priced at Rs 6,399 onwards.
"We expect 1.5-2
million Android One handsets to be sold this year in India," MediTek VP
(US business development) Mohit Bhushan told PTI when asked about the
his expectations on the sale of the handsets.
With prices
starting at Rs 6,399, the hardware and software being provided on
Android One will give users an amazing experience, he added.
The first set of Android One devices feature MediaTek's MT6582 mobile
System-on-Chip (SoC), which is based on quad ARM CortexTM A7 CPU
architecture.
The processors deliver superior multitasking
performance and excellent sustained performance-per-watt for a premium
mobile experience.
When asked about the impact on Android One
on the smartphone market, Bhushan said: "In the short term, there can be
disruptions. But, this will eventually lead to handset makers not part
of Android One to invest on innovating the mobile experience."
He added that companies will have to realize that Android One will give
users an unmatched device experience at affordable prices and for them
to match it, they will have to follow suit.
With Android One,
Google aims to win customers in the world's fastest growing smartphone
market with low prices and better quality software.
Currently, many affordable smartphones in India already offer customized versions of the Android operating system.
In case of Android One, the eventual software upgrades on the Android
One phones would come directly from Google. This would give Google
better control of the operating system and ensure users get a consistent
service.
Reports suggest, an initial lot of Micromax Canvas A1 handsets, that were put up for sale on Amazon, were sold out.
PwC India Leader (telecom) Mohammad Chowdhury said: "The festive season
regularly sees an uptick in handset sales and we should expect this in
the next few months. In particular there is hot competition in the
segment priced from Rs 7,000 upwards."
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