Google’s Android One devices faces problems as some of India’s biggest retail chains are refusing to sell, due to Google’s handling of online sales, low profit margins and slow sales.
This year Google launched Android One devices in India by partnering with Micromax, Karbonn and Spice. The initial plan is to sell the devices only through Online retailers. But this decision is backfired, resulting in low sales, as majority of Indians still prefer buying devices from retail stores. This forced the manufacturers to sell the devices through retail stores.
But selling the device through retail store also hit a dead end, when major retailers which together operate more than 1,800 stores have decided against stocking Android One smart-phones, according to The Economic Times of India, citing unnamed senior industry executives.
As the original plan was selling the devices online, the pricing of the device did not taken account of retail chain commission and the retail margin offered for Android One was around 3-4% which is much less than the industry average of 9-10%.
There are other issues surrounding the Android One devices, according to The Economic Times sources, but chief among them is that the brick-and-mortar retailers were cut out of the equation initially. In addition, the devices offer lower margins than the retailers would like, and since demand has been low, retailers are unwilling to play ball.
