Celkon ties up with Google for Android One smartphones; Google to spend Rs 100 Crore on advertising Android One in India

The Android One initiative was announced at the Google I/O conference held last month and Google partnered with few India based vendors to launch low-cost smartphones under this program. After Micromax, Spice and Karbonn, two other domestic players – Celkon and Intex are all set to join the Android One program.

According to The Economic Times, Celkon and Intex are in talks with the search engine giant to become Android One partners in the country. As the Indian smartphone market is progressing at a rapid pace, the Android One devices will be announced initially in the nation.

While Hyderabad based Celkon has already become a partner, Delhi based Intex is yet to sign the deal. Also, HTC that is focusing on the emerging markets for its growth appears to be in talks with Google for a tie-up. The report quotes Celkon executive director Murali Retineni saying, "With Android One, we are planning to introduce devices that are 20-30% cheaper than earlier products."

Also, Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, business head, mobile, Intex Technologies states, "We are in talks with Google for the Android One initiative. In 15-20 days, I would be able to give more information on the same."

The Android One program will involve the manufacturers to make devices according to the hardware reference models in order to launch high-quality phones that are priced competitively below $100 (approx. Rs 6,000). Running on a vanilla version of Android, these phones will support faster updates.

In addition to these details, in a different report, The Economic Times states that Google will spending over Rs 100 crore along with its partners to advertise and market the smartphones launched under the Android One program in India. The first launch is claimed to happen in time for Diwali in October when Sundar Pichai’s Indian visit is expected to take place.

Also, the first device to be a part of this initiative will be from Micromax’s stable and the device was shown off by the Google executive at the annual conference. The known aspects of this device include a 4.5-inch display, dual SIM card slots, FM radio and expandable storage support.