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MediaTek-Google's Android One Smartphone Platform Targets Sub-US$100 Segment

2014/10/06 | By Ken Liu

Fabless house MediaTek Inc. recently announced introduction of the brand new smartphone platform "Android One" in cooperation with Google Inc. to  boost the market for sub-US$100 smartphones, a rising segment called "Super-mid Market" with potentially one billion consumers.

Industry executives say as Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are positioned as upscale products with retail prices starting at US$700-800, the sub-US$100  segment provides the Android camp an opportunity to boost market share to combat Apple.

According to wire services, the Android One platform supports dual SIM design and receive FM broadcast. Android One phones will be mostly promoted in developing economies outside China due to contentious relations between Google and the Chinese government, which has a policy to control online search engines to limit public access to data that authorities see as politically sensitive.

Industry executives believe, despite the sub-US$100 phones' modest profit margin for Google, such phones can boost consumers' mobile connection to the Google search engine, thereby increasing advertisement views on Google.

In mid-September, Google debuted the first models of Android One phones in India with local brand-name suppliers as Karbonn, Micromax and Spice, with prices competitive to the quad-core Redmi Note from Xiaomi of China.

Impacted by brisk migration to fourth-generation mobile communications in China, MediaTek, recognized as China's No.1 supplier of mobile chips for pre-4G phones, has seen reduced orders from China. But industry executives think Android One sales could offset its downtrend in China.

Industry executives predict MediaTek's mass production of 4G mobile chips will not happen until this October, when downward price pressure will continue on its 3G chips. (KL)