Google phone in India by December

High Tech Computer (HTC), a Taiwanese handset manufacturer, is planning to launch the Android platform-powered phone (popularly referred to as the Google phone) in India by December

The phone is priced Rs 8,200 ($179) in the US, but in India the price will be much higher. The main reason for this is that these handsets (Apple iPhone, T mobile Google Phone) are subsidized in the US by the operators.

HTC (India) is keen on tie up with some local operator for the Google phone.

Android is a Linux-based operating system for mobile devices that was announced in November last year and developed by the Open Handset Alliance — a group comprising players like Google, HTC, Intel, Motorola and Samsung.

To spur the growth of third-party applications, Google recently announced the Android Market, similar to Apple's App Store, where consumers can buy and download content for its mobile platform.

Labelled as competition to Apple’s iPhone, which is priced at Rs 31,000 for the 8GB model, the HTC G1 could be priced cheaper to maintain an edge in India. Currently, HTC has smart-phones in the Indian market priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 35,000.


HTC’s device is a 3G phone with a touch-screen, slider keyboard, GPS and Wi-Fi.

HTC India hopes to sell 600,000 mobile devices in 2009, having doubled sales this year from 100,000 in 2007. Research firm Strategy Analytics has predicted that the G1 could sell 400,000 units by the end of 2008, accounting for 4 per cent of the smart-phone market.