Google is
introducing a low-priced smartphone in six African countries where most people
still can't afford an Internet-connected device.
The "Hot 2" phone announced Tuesday is made by Infinix and has a recommended price of $88.
It will be sold in stores in Nigeria and offered by online retailer Jumia in
five other countries: Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Morocco. Jumia
listed the phone at $98 before it sold out, based on a check of its website
late Tuesday.
Infinix
worked with Google on the Hot 2 as part of a program called Android One that
made its debut in India last year.
Android One
represents Google’s push to lower the prices of smartphones in less developed
parts of the world where computers are considered a luxury. Google
consults with device makers to build cheap phones that can still run the latest
version of its Android software.
Infinix’s
phone will be sold with an Android release that came out last year under the
nickname “Lollipop.” It will be capable of running the next upgrade of Android,
called “Marshmallow,” due out this fall.
The price
for the Hot 2 is a steep markdown from other smartphones equipped with
Android’s newest software. For instance, prices for Samsung Electronics newest
Android phones to be released this month will cost from about $700 to more than
$800 without a wireless contract.
The Android
phones being released in Africa, though, are bare-bones models that can’t do as
many things as more expensive phones.
Google,
Facebook and other Internet companies are trying to get more people online in
places like Africa so they can expand their audiences and eventually sell more
digital advertising.
As part of
that effort, Google already has built a fiber-optic network to provide faster
Internet access in Kampala, the capital of Uganda.