Obi Worldphone, previously Obi Mobiles, is a

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

manufacturer founded in 2014 by Neeraj Chauhan, Shane Maine, Gordon McMillan, and John Sculley. Obi Worldphone manufactures smartphones aimed at the

emerging markets An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or were ...

rather than very competitive developed markets.

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 Robert Brunner (born 1958) is an American industrial designer. Brunner was the Director of Industrial Design for Apple Computer from 1989 to 1996 and is a founder and current partner at Ammunition Design Group. Biography Brunner received a Bac ...

(now a co-founder of Ammunition Design Group) who came up with the raised screen design found on all Obi smartphones. Ammunition subsequently designed the chassis and operating system skin the phones run on, "Obi Lifespeed". 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. The newly branded company launched two of their pioneer low cost smartphones on August 27, 2015. Both models are based upon

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

as their operating system. Their third phone, the MV1, was announced in February 2016, and was released to Asian, African, Latin American and European markets in March 2016. In July 2015, Obi had a 5.7% smartphone market share in the UAE, making it the company's strongest global market. In September 2017, Sculley distanced himself from Obi and said his name was used for PR only.

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). The phone comes with a self-developed fork of the

Android Operating System Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android is developed by a consortium of deve ...

called "Obi Lifespeed". 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, and a choice of black or white. The initial retail price for the device is $199 and comes unlocked.

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

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).

References

External links

* {{- Mobile phone manufacturers Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Manufacturing companies based in San Francisco Electronics companies established in 2014 Telecommunications companies established in 2014 2014 establishments in California Companies based in San Francisco American companies established in 2014