Obi Worldphone

Last updated

Obi Worldphone
Company type Private
Industry Telecommunications equipment
Founded2014
Founders
Defunct2018 [1]
Headquarters,
US
Area served
Products
  • Obi SF1 (2015)
  • Obi SJ1.5 (2015)
  • Obi MV1 (2016)
  • Obi Lifespeed
Number of employees
70 (2016) [2]

Obi Worldphone, previously Obi Mobiles, was a Silicon Valley smartphone manufacturer 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 markets. [4] [5]

Contents

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 2 3 Kurup, Rajesh (18 September 2017). "Trouble brews for Obi Mobiles, company 'founded' by former Apple CEO John Sculley". The Hindu Business Line . Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  2. Orlowski, Andrew (27 April 2016). "Ex-Apple gurus' elusive Android phone coming to UK next month". The Register . Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  3. Jonnalagadda, Harish (27 August 2015). "Former Apple CEO John Sculley-backed Obi Worldphone launches sleek sub-$250 smartphones". Android Central. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  4. Bajarin, Tim (31 August 2015). "Apple's Former CEO Built a Very Impressive Cheap New Phone". Time . Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  5. Goldman, David (27 August 2015). "Former Apple CEO John Sculley debuts new smartphone". CNN . Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  6. Pearce, James (9 May 2016). "Former Apple execs aim to fill "gap in market" with Obi WorldPhone". Mobile News CWP. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Beautifully designed smartphones for the world's fastest growing markets". Ammunition Group . Archived from the original on 28 August 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  8. 1 2 Aulakh, Gulveen (27 August 2015). "After initial India failure, Obi relaunches itself as Obi Worldphone". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  9. 1 2 Curry, David (26 August 2015). "Former Apple CEO John Sculley launches two low-cost Android Smartphones". Digital Trends . Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  10. "Obi Worldphone MV1 detailed specifications". Gadgets 360 . Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  11. Tung, Liam (23 February 2016). "Ex-Apple CEO's Obi Worldphone launches $149 Android MV1 smartphone". ZDNet . Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  12. "Obi Worldphone SF1 detailed specifications" . Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  13. 1 2 "SF1". Obi Worldphone. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  14. 1 2 Brownlee, John (26 August 2015). "How Ammunition And Apple's Ex-CEO Plan To Disrupt The "Design Center" Of The Smartphone World". Fast Company . Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  15. Goldman, David (27 August 2015). "Former Apple CEO John Sculley debuts new smartphone". CNNMoney. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  16. 1 2 England, Lucy. "Former Apple CEO John Sculley just launched a new line of cheap Android smartphones". Business Insider. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  17. "Obi Worldphone vào top 5 điện thoại tốt nhất 2015". VnExpress (in Vietnamese). 14 January 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  18. "Top 5 điện thoại xuất sắc của Tech Awards 2015" (in Vietnamese). VnExpress. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  19. "Obi Worldphone Sf1 Vinh Danh Top 5 Tech Awards 2015 Hạng Mục Điện Thoại". Obi Worldphone (in Vietnamese). 12 January 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.