Apple’s ex-chief executive John Sculley is making Android phones now, unveils Obi Worldphone
Apple’s former chief executive, John Sculley, has surprised the tech world by unveiling two new smartphones – which run on Google's Android operating system.
He doesn’t plan for the phones to compete against his former company, though. Instead, with the Obi Worldphone and the SF1 both priced below $200, Sculley is hoping to become big in the developing world.
It’s not a bad market to break into. Some 1bn people across Asia, Africa and the Middle East are expected to buy their first smartphone within the next couple of years.
The phones will be going up against Chinese manufacturers Huawei and Xiaomi, both of which have reaped huge success in emerging markets.
Sculley, who’s teaming up with Robert Brunner’s design firm Ammunition Group, wants to combine Silicon Valley design with budget models:
The smartphone market is dominated by brands at the premium end of the market.
In the lower end of the market, you can buy a smartphone for $40, from a street vendor in Indonesia, and it may work for a couple months … or not.