Reliance-Google smartphone deal in India threatens Chinese firms: Report
Under a $4.5 billion deal, Tech giant, Google will reportedly collaborate with India’s Reliance Industries on a new smartphone likely heralds a big shake-up for the world’s second-largest mobile market, reported by Reuters.
According to the report, Reliance boss Mukesh Ambani, announced the partnership at his company’s annual meeting last week, said Google would build an Android operating system (OS) to power a low-cost “4G or even 5G” smartphone that Reliance would design.
The new phone is set to pose a major challenge to Chinese vendors such as Xiaomi and BBK Electronics, owner of the Realme, Oppo and Vivo brands, which currently dominate a $2 billion market for sub-$100 smartphones in India.
As per the report, out of every 10 smartphones in the country the Chinese firms sells roughly 8.
Reliance executed a similar plan in 2017 with the launch of the JioPhone, a no-frills device that gave users internet access for as little as $20. JioPhone now has more 100 million users, many of whom are internet first-timers.
Reliance’s ambition to hand a smartphone to every Indian could also win subscribers from telecoms rivals Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, who still have hundreds of millions of users with old-style feature phones on basic 2G networks.
While Reliance has given no details on the specifications or price of the new smartphone, the timing of its launch, or who might build it, the Jio network’s 387 million subscribers, but one thing is for certain that the Google brand name will give it a big leg up.
