Think the Android One program is dead? Nope, that is not the case, according to Google’s Mike Hayes, the Director of Business Development for Android & Chrome Partnerships.
In an interview with ET, Hayes said that the program will continue, and that Google is in fact taking it as a huge priority. He also said that the hiring of Motorola’s Rick Osterloh, to the Mountain View company’s hardware division is an example of Google’s hardware strategy.
Hayes denied that Google had ended its association with Micromax, Karbonn, and Spice (the original Android One manufacturers). Apparently the OEM, and other interested ones are often in talks with Google to discuss Android One.
And he also seems to have clarified that OEMs now have a greater say in the specifications of the device, unlike the first time when Google had asked them to use a particular spec sheet. The freedom to choose the specifications was partly due to the competition in the market, which has since then gone leaps and bounds ahead of the older ones.
To a question by ET about the possibility of more Android One devices, Hayes answered in the following manner:
It’s safe to say, yes!
Hopefully, this means that we will see much better Android One devices in the future.
