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Is MyPhone investing too much on the Rio series?

March 5, 2015March 5, 2015 Carl Lamiel Leave a comment

With the Android One program coming in, is MyPhone still banking too much on the Rio and its spun-off devices to keep itself afloat?

MyPhone-Rio-Fun-Colors

There is no denying that the Rio is MyPhone’s prized possession, and maybe the company’s bread and butter as well. Arguably one of the most popular budget smartphones in the market today, the Rio has been known to be a device of personality and power when it was first launched. The Rio is one of the local smartphones that pushed better internal configurations and offered more character with an assortment of back cover colors at a sub-Php5k price.

The company even tapped celebrities, like Daniel Padilla, and held a lot of nationwide events to promote the product. It proved to be successful on capturing their target market with the budget phones, and the product’s official Facebook group now has an astounding 30,000 members as of this writing.

With the Rio’s success came a lot of sacrifices. Other smartphone lines they offer are hardly visible and are seen to be not as successful. Its Ocean line for example, having both entry-level and mid-range devices, were hardly felt in the market at all. This prompted MyPhone to release more smartphones that bear the Rio moniker to compensate and hope for more sales.

myphone-rio-series

If we look at it, the company released nine more devices with the Rio branding the past year alone: the Rio Lite a few weeks after Rio was released, the Rio Fun last May, then Rio Craze in July, followed by the the Rio LTE in August, then the Rio Junior and its TV-equipped version in October and November and the huge Rio Grande a few weeks later, and the Rio Craze 3G and Junior 3G just this past week. The Rio now is now the company’s largest product line with ten devices to choose from.

Enter Google’s Android One Program this year. The market they have worked hard to attain is also the target of the newly-launched Uno smartphone: first-time smartphone users who are on a budget and those that want an unadulterated, seamless Android experience.

MyPhone came in late with everything in the Android One wars — its direct conversion pricing scheme, the date of nationwide release, and the phone’s internal storage are inferior when we compare it to how Cherry Mobile handled its strategy for the One. To summarize, they were not able to capitalize with the huge Android One buzz during that week, and they have positioned the Uno at a very big disadvantage against the other smartphone offered in the program.

uno-vs-rio

So, is the company investing too much on the Rio? Yes, they are. They’re clearly capitalizing on the original Rio’s profound success, but sometimes a little diversity could’ve been better. It may be one of the strongest smartphone local smartphone branding right now, but the reliance on the Rio moniker makes the line lose its brightness and may become a dull standard in the long run.

Doesn’t MyPhone want its budget flagship Rio to be overshadowed by the new Uno? With almost the same specs on paper, the price difference that sets the Rio apart from the new Uno is a mere Php400. One may choose the more expensive phone that provides better internals, or opt for the more affordable device that can withstand the test of time and receive software updates for the next two years. Is the near-identical price range and the delayed announcement meant to discourage the users who want to try Android One and advocate to choose their Php4,999 device instead?

Can MyPhone afford to lose its investment to a newcomer? Maybe. Too much of everything may be harmful, and MyPhone may want to start exploring additional options to cater to their customers.

The post Is MyPhone investing too much on the Rio series? appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Will Android One save the reputation of local brands?

February 18, 2015February 18, 2015 Abe Olandres Leave a comment

Yesterday saw the official launching of Android One in the Philippines and two giant local brands were there to introduce their own version of a low-cost Android One certified smartphone — Cherry Mobile One and MyPhone Uno.

In simpler terms, the Android One Program is like the Google Nexus Program for the mass market (lower C, D and E).

While a lot of people are ecstatic about their release, the bigger and perhaps more important question is will Android One improve the rather unpleasant reputation of local brands?

We look closely and focus on several of the key issues plaguing local brands.

1) Release and Forget Attitude. Most (dare we say 90%) of the smartphone models they release never get to see any updates at all. This issue isn’t isolated with local brands as international brands have the same problem, only that it is very glaring with the local ones.

Android One addresses this problem by putting the responsibility to update the operating system to Google instead of the individual manufacturers. In fact, this is the single biggest advantage offered by the Android One Program.

2) High Return Rate. From buggy handsets to long lines in the service center — these are typical complaints by customers who spend their hard-earned money to buy their very first and affordable smartphone.

Google has reported that the Android One Program has reduced the return rate of handsets for brands who participated in India. The same trend is expected for Android One in the Philippines. The problem is, only Android One handsets will enjoy this improved success rate. All other (90% or more) handsets will continue to earn the same return rate.

3) Customer Service. While we’ve seen local brands continue to expand their reach, increase the number of their service centers, a significant amount of customers are still unsatisfied with their quality of after-sales service. Android One hopes to eliminate that horrendous trip to the service center after 2 months of buying the phone. Sorry but Google will not have any dedicated service centers for Android One handsets. You still have to line up the usual way.

Then, we also look at the promises being offered by the Android One Program.

1) Low-Cost Smartphone for First-Time Users. The Android One Program’s mission is to deliver low-cost handsets to first-time smartphone users. While this is generally the case in most emerging markets that the program has been launched, these existing markets already have affordable handsets for over a year now. Hence, the baseline economic impact of Android One might not be that significant.

2) Better Smartphone Experience. We notice that people are already complaining when they see 1GB of RAM on a Kitkat handset. Perhaps 1GB of RAM on a Lollipop handset will make a world of difference?

We will test this theory once we get hold of an Android One unit and compare it with a similarly-specced Kitkat device. In our experience, the general sluggishness of an Android device (Jellybean, Kitkat, Lollipop) has more to do with the volume of installed and running apps rather than the version of Android it has.

Bottom line. The Android One Program can only do so much to help improve the reputation of any brand, local or international. The Nexus Program has done wonders to HTC (but where is HTC now), as well as Motorola (which has been sold off in pieces). Samsung was the biggest winner, along with Asus but that Google halo effect will not last very long.

In the end, local brands have to do it by themselves. Improve their service, roll-out reasonable and timely updates, and strive for better quality control.

The post Will Android One save the reputation of local brands? appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Will Android One save the reputation of local brands?

February 18, 2015February 18, 2015 Abe Olandres Leave a comment

In simpler terms, the Android One Program is like the Google Nexus Program for the mass market (lower C, D and E).

While a lot of people are ecstatic about their release, the bigger and perhaps more important question is will Android One improve the rather unpleasant reputation of local brands?

We look closely and focus on several of the key issues plaguing local brands.

Then, we also look at the promises being offered by the Android One Program.

In the end, local brands have to do it by themselves. Improve their service, roll-out reasonable and timely updates, and strive for better quality control.

Will Android One save the reputation of local brands?

February 18, 2015February 18, 2015 Abe Olandres Leave a comment

In simpler terms, the Android One Program is like the Google Nexus Program for the mass market (lower C, D and E).

While a lot of people are ecstatic about their release, the bigger and perhaps more important question is will Android One improve the rather unpleasant reputation of local brands?

We look closely and focus on several of the key issues plaguing local brands.

Then, we also look at the promises being offered by the Android One Program.

In the end, local brands have to do it by themselves. Improve their service, roll-out reasonable and timely updates, and strive for better quality control.

Will Android One save the reputation of local brands?

February 18, 2015February 18, 2015 Abe Olandres Leave a comment

In simpler terms, the Android One Program is like the Google Nexus Program for the mass market (lower C, D and E).

While a lot of people are ecstatic about their release, the bigger and perhaps more important question is will Android One improve the rather unpleasant reputation of local brands?

We look closely and focus on several of the key issues plaguing local brands.

Then, we also look at the promises being offered by the Android One Program.

In the end, local brands have to do it by themselves. Improve their service, roll-out reasonable and timely updates, and strive for better quality control.