Google: India Disconnects

June 16, 2015

I read “Google’s Big Project to Sell Super Cheap Phones in India Appears to Be Failing.” When I read the title, I wondered how Google’s other “pump up the channel” plays are working out. The shift from desktop search and advertising to the mobile platform may be leaving Adwords behind. But Google has, I thought, dozens of super wizards who hail from… wait for it … India. If any outfit could figure out how to do a slam dunk, it should be Google.

According to the write up:

The three Indian phone manufacturers that were initially involved in producing the low-cost devices have no plans to create future versions of the smartphone, The Economic Times reports.

I highlighted in pale pink this statement:

Sanjay Kalirona, who heads up the mobile phones unit at Intex, told The Economic Times: “Everything was finalized, the product was ready but market response was not there, so we dropped the idea.”

How bad were the numbers?

Sales data for Indian Android One phones shows that the devices accounted for between 2% to 2.5% of smartphone sales in India from September 2014 until May 2015. And sales estimates from Convergence Catalyst estimates the total number of Android One handsets sold in India since launch at less than 1 million units.

That strikes me as Microsoft and Amazon phone territory.

Poor Google. First, Europe, then China, and now India are not feeling the Google vibe. I love the GOOG. Disappointment. Perhaps some resources will flow into the Google Search Appliance? Or, what about more Loon balloons?

Stephen E Arnold, June 16, 2015

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One Response to “Google: India Disconnects”

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    Google: India Disconnects : Stephen E. Arnold @ Beyond Search

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