Friday 27 June 2014

Google partners Micromax, others for Rs 6,000 smartphone

Representational Picture
Google has planned to bring the smartphones by October this year, starting with the Indian market. The device will be produced by homegrown handset maker Micromax along with other firms like Karbonn and Spice for India, which is the world's fastest growing smartphone market.
   
"The device with Micromax is a dual-SIM 4.5-inch screen device with a removable SD card and will cost less than USD 100," Google SVP, Android, Chrome and Apps, Sundar Pichai said at the firm's developers conference in San Francisco on Thursday.

"We will launch this around the world, but we will start with India this fall," Pichai said.

The search engine giant said it is also working with telecom operators to provide users with "reasonable data plans." He added that the phone addresses the needs of India.
   
According to research firm IDC, smartphone sales in the country grew almost three-fold to over 44 million in 2013, buoyed by affordable devices made by local firms such as Micromax and Karbonn.
   
In the first quarter of 2014, 17.59 million smartphones were shipped in India compared with 6.14 million in the same period of 2013.
   
Samsung was the leader with a 35 percent market share in Q1, followed by Micromax (15 percent), Karbonn (10 percent), LAVA (6 percent) and Nokia (4 percent), according to IDC.
   
The devices are a part of Google's new initiative, Android One...

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