We wanted to address the problem of software, hardware & connectivity: Caesar Sengupta

Interview with Vice-president, product management, who oversees product strategy for Android One and Google Chromebooks

There's a correction to this interview that can be seen at its end.

In its first global launch from India, Google unveiled the Android One project on Monday. The initiative is expected to bring about a wave of low-cost, quality products around the Android system. Caesar Sengupta, vice-president of product management, who oversees product strategy for Android One and Google Chromebooks, based in Google headquarters at Mountain View, California, talks about it to Surabhi Agarwal. Edited excerpts:

What was the big idea behind the initiative?

We found some obstacles in reaching out to the next one billion. High quality hardware is out of reach for most people and the software experience on a lot of these phones (low-end) is not very good. And, people don't have access to data. We wanted to address these problems. Our partners came to us and said we want to sell the phones at lower prices, but we also need help in making them high-quality. We realised that we need to put together a more holistic programme. The best way to do this is taking the reference board (for components) approach.

So, what changes in the way Android does business with manufacturers now?

Android used to just build software. Now, we also give blueprints and choices for those blueprints. It also helps the original equipment makers (OEMs), as they don't have to do all the work required to ship a device with high quality. We are now stepping in and offering a basic layer; the OEMs are taking that and can build on top of it. So, they can bring products to the market faster and at a lower cost and some of that will get passed to the users.

Why were there no variants of the phone during the launch on Monday?

Because we were just trying to launch (quickly). If we delayed the launch by a few weeks, we would see more products. Selfishly, our partners also wanted to hit Diwali and wanted to be in the market at least a month before it. So, as soon as the first set of products were ready, we decided to go ahead. Now, they will bring more and more products into the market.

So, what went behind the scenes in creating Android One. Whose idea was it?

This idea has been going on for a long time. We have been working for a year or so on Android One itself. It is difficult to pinpoint the idea to one single person. But a lot of ideas at Google come from the engineers, as they are the closest to seeing the problems. This was one of the few ideas that some engineers started working on and then a few of us, including Sundar (Pichai, senior vice-president) and I, thought it was promising. And, we decided to figure out how to put more gas on it. That is how it expanded.

Correction: An earlier version of this interview identified Sengupta as Vice-president, product management and overseas product strategy for Android One, Google Chromebooks. His actual designation is Vice-president, product management, who oversees product strategy for Android One and Google Chromebooks. The error is regretted.