14 DAY TRIAL // Google's Android One program is meant to offer the stock Android experience to those who can't afford to purchase a Nexus or Google Play Edition device.
The decision to launch the program in India was based on the high number of potential customers amassed in this region, and Google wasn't wrong at all.
One of the largest smartphone markets in the world, India is also the place where handset makers face the fiercest competition. Indian companies like Micromax, Karbonn, Lava Mobiles, Spice Mobility and many others are flooding the market with very cheap smartphones.
This is why Android One smartphones, even if manufactured by some of these Indian OEMs, continue to have disappointing sales.
Ironically, Google is the only real competitor for Android One smartphones. If not for the cheap Android smartphones launched by Indian OEMs, Android One devices might have sold a lot better.
Google proved to be the toughest competitor for Android One phones
Another issue is the fact that Android One smartphones do not offer enough of a differentiation factor over other cheap smartphones that do not include the Android stock experience.
However, it looks like Google is determined to continue to launch Android One smartphones in India, even though Micromax, Karbonn and Spice seem to have abandoned the program due to low sales.
“We're not backing away from the program. We've learnt a lot from the initial round with our partners and they have learnt in terms of device availability, in channel and others.
“Over time, as we work with our partners, we will keep working on making sure that we do things much better,” Caesar Sengupta, vice president of product management at Google, told Economic Times.
Sengupta has also said that the next time a new range of Android One smartphones is launched in India, they will do much better in terms of sales.
It remains to be seen if by the time Google decides to introduce the next family of Android One smartphones the market response is still there.