Obi Worldphone

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Obi Worldphone
Company typePrivate
IndustryTelecommunications equipment
Founded2014
FoundersNeeraj Chauhan
Shane Maine
Gordon McMillan
John Sculley
Defunct2018[1]
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
,
U.S.
Area served
Latin America
Saudi Arabia
Thailand
UAE
United Kingdom
Vietnam
ProductsObi 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.[3] Obi Worldphone manufactures smartphones aimed at the emerging markets[4] rather than very competitive developed markets.[5][6]

History[edit]

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.[7] Ammunition subsequently designed the chassis and operating system skin the phones run on, "Obi Lifespeed".[8]

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.[9]

The newly branded company launched two of their pioneer low cost smartphones on August 27, 2015.[10] Both models are based upon Android as their operating system.[10] Their third phone, the MV1, was announced in February 2016, and was released to Asian, African, Latin American and European markets in March 2016.[11][12]

In July 2015, Obi had a 5.7% smartphone market share in the UAE, making it the company's strongest global market.[9]

In September 2017, Sculley distanced himself from Obi and said his name was used for PR only.[3]

Products[edit]

SF1[edit]

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).[13] The phone comes with a self-developed fork of the Android Operating System called "Obi Lifespeed".[8][14] 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,[14] and a choice of black or white. The initial retail price for the device is $199 and comes unlocked.[15]

SJ1.5[edit]

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.[15] The device is all plastics in a range of colors and comes with 16GB of storage and a 3,000 milliamps battery.[16][17] Both the SF1 and SJ1.5 feature a dual SIM tray.[17]

MV1[edit]

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[edit]

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).[18][19][20]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Trouble brews for Obi Mobiles, company 'founded' by former Apple CEO John Sculley". The Hindu BusinessLine. 10 January 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  2. ^ Orlowski, Andrew (27 April 2016). "Ex-Apple gurus' elusive Android phone coming to UK next month". The Register. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b Kurup, Rajesh (18 September 2017). "Trouble brews for Obi Mobiles, company 'founded' by former Apple CEO John Sculley". @businessline. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Former Apple CEO John Sculley-backed Obi Worldphone launches sleek sub-$250 smartphones". androidcentral.com. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  5. ^ Bajarin, Tim (31 August 2015). "Apple's Former CEO Built a Very Impressive Cheap New Phone". Time Inc. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  6. ^ Goldman, David (27 August 2015). "Former Apple CEO John Sculley debuts new smartphone". CNN. Time Warner. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  7. ^ Pearce, James (9 May 2016). "Former Apple execs aim to fill "gap in market" with Obi WorldPhone". Mobile News CWP. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Beautifully designed smartphones for the world's fastest growing markets". Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  9. ^ a b Aulakh, Gulveen (27 August 2015). "After initial India failure, Obi relaunches itself as Obi Worldphone". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  10. ^ a b Curry, David (26 August 2015). "Former Apple CEO John Sculley launches two low-cost Android Smartphones". Digital Trends. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Obi Worldphone MV1 detailed specifications". Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  12. ^ Tung, Liam (23 February 2016). "Ex-Apple CEO's Obi Worldphone launches $149 Android MV1 smartphone". ZDNet. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Obi Worldphone SF1 detailed specifications". Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  14. ^ a b "SF1". Obi Worldphone. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  15. ^ a b 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.
  16. ^ Goldman, David (27 August 2015). "Former Apple CEO John Sculley debuts new smartphone". CNNMoney. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  17. ^ a b 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. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "Obi Worldphone vào top 5 điện thoại tốt nhất 2015". VnExpress. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  19. ^ "Top 5 điện thoại xuất sắc của Tech Awards 2015". VnExpress. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  20. ^ "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.

External links[edit]

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