What Is Google’s End Goal With Android One smartphones?

Google recently launched the Android One program, which Sundar Pichai says will conquer ‘The Next Billion’. While the program is ambitious, I feel that the western media is blowing it out of proportion and giving Google way too much credit. At the risk of giving out anti-Android vibes, let me say it out loud – this is not about targeting the next billion.

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Let’s be clear, when Google said that it is launching Android One program for developing countries, it’s not fooling anyone. The program has been designed for the Indian market, which is why local OEMs like Micromax, Karbonn and Spice are the partners.

Android One

Google has launched this program to standardize the low end smartphones brought into the market by these local OEMs, which are actually causing trouble. Google is great at identifying problems early on. It knows that when a person buys a low end smartphone, they are more likely to upgrade to a better specs one the second time around if they feel that their current device has helped them in any way. And here, the low end smartphone makers are troublesome for Google. If they don’t get a seamless experience, consumers are not only going to blame the brand but also Android. These users would not upgrade into the same ecosystem. And these are the consumers Google would care about. Let me explain.

Let’s say Micromax actually comes up with a decent phone at $100, which at current rate would be Rs 6,000. I am pretty sure these users won’t be able to completely enjoy the smartphone experience. Let’s assume the quality of performance of these Rs 6,000 would be of what current phones at Rs 12,000 provide. I am currently using one, Xolo Q1000 which I bought for around Rs 12,000 last year. At the max, I am able to install 15 apps, above which it throws me a storage full error.