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Obi's new smartphones to hit UAE in October

Dubai - The Obi Worldphone SF1 runs Android 5.0.2 customised with the Obi Lifespeed user interface.

Obi Mobiles, a low-cost smartphone manufacturer co-founded by Apple's former CEO John Sculley, will unveil its Worldphone range in the UAE in October.
Amit Rupchandani, managing director, MEA of Obi Connect, said in a statement that the two new Worldphone versions, which feature dual SIM and cost between $130 (Dh470) and $250 (Dh900), would also debut in Vietnam, India, Tukey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Nigeria and Thailand along with the UAE.
Obi Mobiles, which has been rebranded as Obi Worldphone, plans to launch the new devices - 3G and 4G variants of SF1 and SJ1.5 - starting from Vietnam, followed by Indonesia, Thailand, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other international markets.
Rupchandani said the new range is expected to further boost Obi's presence in the UAE, a leading global market for the brand with a 5.7 per cent smartphone share. The target is to sell 10 million phones a year globally by 2017.
The Obi Worldphone SF1 runs Android 5.0.2 customised with the Obi Lifespeed user interface. The software is powered by a Snapdragon 615 chipset with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. Other features include prolonged battery life, quick-charge battery and micro secure digital expansion.
The company intends to re-enter the India market by end of this year through partnership with an e-commerce retailer, according to CEO and co-founder Neeraj Chauhan.
Obi stopped selling phones in India early this year. The company revamped its strategy and brought on board design house Ammunition, founded by Robert Brunner, who was Apple's industrial design director for nearly a decade. Ammunition is also a minority equity holder in Obi Mobiles.
Sculley, who is chairman of Obi Worldphone, said the new strategy is to make foray into markets where operators are converting from 2G to 3G and to LTE. "We have a tailwind of two to three years," he said.
Sculley said there is a market gap which is underserved by design. Obi devices are above the generic smartphones in the range of $35, but significantly below the $400, he said.
"Our research shows that about 2.8 billion people in the world have some kind of mobile handset, while we expect another one billion to buy smartphones for the first time over the next three to four years," he said.
Obi's new business model will be low-margin and driven by volume and backed by a design-oriented approach. "Elegant design will be our core message. We are confident that the extra investment in the new devices will help us get the numbers," Sculley said.
Currently, Obi is getting its phones made by CKT. Obi has also brought on board European insurer Generali which will offer its insurance services via an app embedded in the phones, giving it further global reach. Generali has also taken a minority share in Obi.
Analysts expect that over the next three years, one billion users will upgrade from low-end, starter smartphones to models with more power and greater functionality.
Obi Worldphone's design and attractive pricing make it appealing as the market for smartphones expands and the upgrade market for smartphones accelerates, they added.
- business@khaleejtimes.com