Google is reportedly working with Lava International Ltd., a well-known smartphone brand in India, to release a low-cost handset any time soon. The search engine giant is set to loosen the requirements for its Android One program, due to its gloomy and not-so-good performance sales during its first year in the market.
As reported by Wall Street Journal, Google is expected to revamp its Android One program's requirements to assist hardware allies set apart their handsets. Since the launch of Android One, the smartphones were not actually competitively priced and their specifications as well as features are beneath the competition line. Unfortunately, the company has only managed to obtain three million unit sales across 19 countries. Thus, this truly marks a fall down to the company's program.
In addition, the Android One program is heavily controlled by Google, which makes it hard for manufacturers to create smartphones down to a low cost. However, with Google's new approach, Android One partners will more likely to become flexible. They can now have the freedom to set various handset prices, eliminate Google's less popular services, and select the components they can source.
Meanwhile, Google and Lava plan to unveil this new budget-friendly handset soon as part of the Android One program. It aims to provide the users in developing countries an affordable way to get online through its Android mobile operating system. Rumor has it that the device will be priced between $31 and $47.
On the whole, there is still no assurance that this new strategy will work. But, Google hopes that the alterations will give another chance for the Android One program to become a hit in the market. Hence, everyone should just simply wait for the release of this affordable smartphone in the coming months and see if the company will make an impact to the smartphone market this time around.
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