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Obi Worldphone

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Obi Worldphone
Company typePrivate
IndustryTelecommunications equipment
Founded2014
Founders
Defunct2018[1]
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
,
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]

History

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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

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SF1

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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

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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

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b "Beautifully designed smartphones for the world's fastest growing markets". Ammunition Group. Retrieved 29 April 2016.[dead link]
  8. ^ a b Aulakh, Gulveen (27 August 2015). "After initial India failure, Obi relaunches itself as Obi Worldphone". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  9. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "SF1". Obi Worldphone. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  14. ^ a b 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. ^ a b 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.
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