If there is one person we Indians are proud of, serving at the top of Google having risen through ranks on his own credentials, it would be none other than Sundar Pichai. The guy has it all, top of the line degrees, product launches, successful career and what not and he has been working super hard to be where he is now.
According to various media reports, Pichai will be visiting India in the later half of December and while his agenda is not very clear, he is expected to meet the Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India and Pranab Mukherjee, President of India.
Narendra Modi had travelled to silicon valley to interact with various entrepreneurs and CXOs of large multi-nationals to propagate the interest in investment in India. Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella showed great interest in visiting India and making an impact across the nation.
Expected Relaunch of Android One Project in India
A month back we had reported that Google is planning to revamp and relaunch the Android One project in India due to dwindling sales and demands. Android One project targets developing nations where extravagant smartphones are not in the destiny of everyone. They provide high-end Android experience on cheap smartphones and receive instant updates and support from Google like the expensive Nexus range.
What better time could it for Google and Sundar Pichai to unveil the next generation of Android One smartphones? Considering the sloppiness of the local OEMs and the poor marketing on smartphones in India, it makes sense for the CEO himself to relaunch the ambitious project in the country.
There is one key point Google has to keep in mind regarding the product relaunch and that is customer engagement. Most of the customers reported lack of updates or lack of response from the OEMs on their queries which led to a lot of anger. Not only that, the offline retailers were not interested in selling the phones either because the demand was quite low from the beginning and there was no benefit either.
The other primary reason why Android One initially failed in India is also pricing. They need to ensure that their smartphones are competitively priced for them to appeal to price-conscious Indian consumers.
We are not fully sure whether Sundar Pichai has this on his agenda in December, considering he’ll be on a very hectic schedule and might want to devote his time to long term associations, but India will be keen to know if indeed Pichai will be launching the revamped project in India himself. For this will infuse credibility and confidence in the mindset of customers shying away from cheaper Google smartphones.
Sundar Pichai should give some concession to Indians as he is Indian too. :)