Company:Obi Worldphone

From HandWiki
Obi Worldphone
TypePrivate
IndustryTelecommunications equipment
Founded2014
Founders
  • Neeraj Chauhan
  • Shane Maine
  • Gordon McMillan
  • John Sculley
Defunct2018[1]
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
,
US
Area served
  • Latin America
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Thailand
  • UAE
  • United Kingdom
  • Vietnam
Products
  • Obi SF1 (2015)
  • Obi SJ1.5 (2015)
  • Obi MV1 (2016)
  • Obi Lifespeed
OwnerEtisalat
Number of employees
70 (2016)[2]

Obi Worldphone, previously Obi Mobiles, was a Silicon Valley smartphone manufacturer subsidiaries of Etisalat founded in 2014 by Neeraj Chauhan, Shane Maine, Gordon McMillan, and John Sculley.[1] Obi Worldphone manufactured smartphones aimed at the emerging markets[3] rather than very competitive developed government.[4][5]

History

The company was launched as Obi Mobiles in 2014. Sculley saw a gap in the market for well-designed budget handsets and got in contact with former Director of Industrial Design, Robert Brunner (now a co-founder of Ammunition Design Group) who came up with the raised screen design found on all Obi smartphones.[6] Ammunition subsequently designed the chassis and operating system skin the phones run on, "Obi Lifespeed".[7]

Obi Mobiles started operations in India in July 2014. Following an unsuccessful launch, the company withdrew from India at the beginning of 2015 (with plans re-entering at the end of the year) and relaunched the brand as Obi Worldphone shortly after.[8]

The newly branded company launched two of their pioneer low-cost smartphones on 27 August 2015.[9] Both models were based upon Android as their operating system.[9] Their third phone, the MV1, was announced in February 2016, and was released to Asian, African, Latin American and European markets in March 2016.[10][11]

In July 2015, Obi had a 5.7% smartphone market share in the UAE, making it the company's strongest global market.[8]

In September 2017, Sculley distanced himself from Obi and said his name was used for PR only.[1]

Products

SF1

Launched on 27 August 2015, this phone with a raised 5-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels at a PPI of 443 pixels per inch (PPI).[12] The phone comes with a self-developed fork of the Android Operating System called "Obi Lifespeed".[7][13] The device also features Dolby Audio multi-channel audio, noise cancellation, and utilizes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, an Adreno 405 GPU, and a 3000 mAh battery. It can access 4G networks. The device comes in 32 GB + 3 GB / 16 GB + 2 GB (respectively Storage and RAM) combinations,[13] and a choice of black or white. The initial retail price for the device is $199 and comes unlocked.[14]

SJ1.5

This device was launched at the same time as the SF1, and also has a 5-inch touchscreen display, however a lower resolution, lack of 4G, and lack of some luxuries lends this phone a cheaper $129 retail price.[14] The device is all plastics in a range of colors and comes with 16 GB of storage and a 3,000 milliamps battery.[15][16] Both the SF1 and SJ1.5 feature a dual SIM tray.[16]

MV1

The MV1 has a 5-inch Gorilla Glass 3 display with 1280 × 720 (HD) resolution; it runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 processor, 2 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of storage. It features a dual SIM tray.

Awards

In 2015, Obi Worldphone's SF1 was voted the fifth-best smartphone available in Vietnam in VNExpress' "TechAwards 2015" (Sản phẩm Công nghệ xuất sắc 2015).[17][18][19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kurup, Rajesh (18 September 2017). "Trouble brews for Obi Mobiles, company 'founded' by former Apple CEO John Sculley" (in en). https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/trouble-brews-for-obi-mobiles-company-founded-by-former-apple-ceo-john-sculley/article9864052.ece. 
  2. ↑ Orlowski, Andrew (27 April 2016). "Ex-Apple gurus' elusive Android phone coming to UK next month". https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/04/27/exapple_gurus_elusive_android_coming_to_uk_next_month/. 
  3. ↑ Jonnalagadda, Harish (27 August 2015). "Former Apple CEO John Sculley-backed Obi Worldphone launches sleek sub-$250 smartphones". http://www.androidcentral.com/former-apple-ceo-john-sculley-backed-obi-worldphone-launches-two-sleek-sub-250-smartphones. 
  4. ↑ Bajarin, Tim (31 August 2015). "Apple's Former CEO Built a Very Impressive Cheap New Phone". Time. https://time.com/4016871/john-sculley-obi-worldphone/. Retrieved 2 September 2015. 
  5. ↑ Goldman, David (27 August 2015). "Former Apple CEO John Sculley debuts new smartphone". http://money.cnn.com/2015/08/27/technology/john-sculley-obi-worldphone/index.html?sr=twmoney082715obiphone530story. 
  6. ↑ Pearce, James (9 May 2016). "Former Apple execs aim to fill "gap in market" with Obi WorldPhone". http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/2016/05/09/former-apple-execs-aim-to-fill-gap-in-market-with-obi-worldphone/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Beautifully designed smartphones for the world's fastest growing markets". http://www.ammunitiongroup.com/work/obiworldphone/. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Aulakh, Gulveen (27 August 2015). "After initial India failure, Obi relaunches itself as Obi Worldphone". The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/hardware/after-initial-india-failure-obi-relaunches-itself-as-obi-worldphone/articleshow/48691921.cms. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Curry, David (26 August 2015). "Former Apple CEO John Sculley launches two low-cost Android Smartphones". Digital Trends. http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/obi-worldwide-sf1-sj1-5-news/. 
  10. ↑ "Obi Worldphone MV1 detailed specifications". http://gadgets.ndtv.com/obi-worldphone-mv1-3325. 
  11. ↑ Tung, Liam (23 February 2016). "Ex-Apple CEO's Obi Worldphone launches $149 Android MV1 smartphone". https://www.zdnet.com/article/ex-apple-ceos-obi-worldphone-launches-149-android-mv1-smartphone/. 
  12. ↑ "Obi Worldphone SF1 detailed specifications". http://gadgets.ndtv.com/obi-worldphone-sf1-2894. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "SF1". Obi Worldphone. http://www.obiworldphone.com/global/sf1. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Brownlee, John (26 August 2015). "How Ammunition And Apple's Ex-CEO Plan To Disrupt The "Design Center" Of The Smartphone World". http://www.fastcodesign.com/3050406/how-ammunition-and-apples-ex-ceo-plan-to-disrupt-the-design-center-of-the-smartphone-world. 
  15. ↑ Goldman, David (27 August 2015). "Former Apple CEO John Sculley debuts new smartphone". https://money.cnn.com/2015/08/27/technology/john-sculley-obi-worldphone/index.html. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 England, Lucy. "Former Apple CEO John Sculley just launched a new line of cheap Android smartphones". https://www.businessinsider.com/john-sculley-android-smartphones-obi-worldphones-2015-8. 
  17. ↑ "Obi Worldphone vào top 5 điện thoại tốt nhất 2015". 14 January 2016. http://sohoa.vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/san-pham/dien-thoai/obi-worldphone-vao-top-5-dien-thoai-tot-nhat-2015-3342321.html. 
  18. ↑ "Top 5 điện thoại xuất sắc của Tech Awards 2015". VnExpress. 13 January 2016. http://sohoa.vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/san-pham/dien-thoai/top-5-dien-thoai-xuat-sac-cua-tech-awards-2015-3341908.html. 
  19. ↑ "Obi Worldphone Sf1 Vinh Danh Top 5 Tech Awards 2015 Hạng Mục Điện Thoại". 12 January 2016. http://www.obiworldphone.com/vn/news/obi-worldphone-sf1-vinh-danh-top-5-tech-awards-2015-h%E1%BA%A1ng-m%E1%BB%A5c-%C4%91i%E1%BB%87n-tho%E1%BA%A1i/5. 
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