Obi Worldphone

Obi Worldphone, previously Obi Mobiles, was a Silicon Valley smartphone manufacturer founded in 2014 by Neeraj Chauhan, Shane Maine, Gordon McMillan, and John Sculley.[2] Obi Worldphone manufactures smartphones aimed at the emerging markets[3] rather than very competitive developed markets.[4][5]

Obi Worldphone
Private
IndustryTelecommunications equipment
Founded2014
FoundersNeeraj Chauhan
Shane Maine
Gordon McMillan
John Sculley
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
,
U.S.
Area served
Latam
Saudi Arabia
Thailand
UAE
United Kingdom
Vietnam
ProductsObi SF1 (2015)
Obi SJ1.5 (2015)
Obi MV1 (2016)
Obi Lifespeed
Number of employees
70 (2016)[1]

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 August 27, 2015.[9] Both models are 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 told that his name was used for PR only.[2]

Products

SF1

Launched on August 27, 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 32GB + 3GB / 16GB + 2GB (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 16GB 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” Gorilla Glass 3 display with 1280 x 720 (HD) resolution, it runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 processor, 2GB of RAM, and 16 GB of Storage. It features a dual SIM tray.

Awards

In 2015, Obi Worldphone's SF1 was voted the 5th best smartphone available in Vietnam in VNExpress' "TechAwards 2015" (Sản phẩm Công nghệ xuất sắc 2015).[17][18][19]

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See also
  • List of mobile phone makers by country

References
  1. Orlowski, Andrew (27 April 2016). "Ex-Apple gurus' elusive Android phone coming to UK next month". The Register. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  2. Kurup, Rajesh. "Trouble brews for Obi Mobiles, company 'founded' by former Apple CEO John Sculley". @businessline. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  3. "Former Apple CEO John Sculley-backed Obi Worldphone launches sleek sub-$250 smartphones". androidcentral.com. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  4. Bajarin, Tim (31 August 2015). "Apple's Former CEO Built a Very Impressive Cheap New Phone". Time Inc. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  5. Goldman, David (27 August 2015). "Former Apple CEO John Sculley debuts new smartphone". CNN. Time Warner. 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. "Beautifully designed smartphones for the world's fastest growing markets". Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  8. Aulakh, Gulveen (27 August 2015). "After initial India failure, Obi relaunches itself as Obi Worldphone". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  9. 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". 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. "SF1". Obi Worldphone. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  14. Brownlee, John (26 August 2015). "How Ammunition And Apple's Ex-CEO Plan To Disrupt The "Design Center" Of The Smartphone World". Co.Design. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  15. Goldman, David (27 August 2015). "Former Apple CEO John Sculley debuts new smartphone". CNNMoney. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  16. UK, Lucy England, Business Insider. "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. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  18. "Top 5 điện thoại xuất sắc của Tech Awards 2015". VnExpress. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  19. "Obi Worldphone - OBI WORLDPHONE SF1 VINH DANH TOP 5 TECH AWARDS 2015 HẠNG MỤC ĐIỆN THOẠI". Obi Worldphone. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
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