Abstract

The case discusses the launch of the Android One initiative by Google, under which the company partnered with mobile handset makers to bring out low priced, smartphones targeted at emerging markets like India. By the time Android One was launched, the Indian market was flooded with low priced smartphones from Motorola and Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi, who sold their handsets exclusively online through retailers like Flipkart and Snapdeal. The Android One partners in India Micromax Mobiles, Karbonn Mobiles, and Spice Digital, also launched the phones through online retailers. But even after two months the sales were not as expected. Then the handset makers started to sell the handsets through conventional retailers. However, several retailers were not in favor of selling the phones showing their displeasure over the launch of phones exclusively online. Thus, the Android One phones in India were caught in a channel conflict, between the traditional retailers and online retailers.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand Internet as a marketing channel
• Understand how channel conflicts occur
• Analyze the difference between channel conflict and competition

Keywords

Channel conflict, e-commerce, Android One, Smartphones, offline retailers