Former Apple chief John Sculley launches affordable Obi smartphones in Dubai

Obi is aiming at the lower to mid-range segment, with five smartphones priced between Dh99 and Dh599 in partnership with Jumbo Electronics.

An OBI Octopus mobile phone on display at Gitex Shopper in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

“If Steve Jobs were to see the Obi phone he’d probably say: ‘it’s not good enough’,” said John Sculley, the co-founder of Obi Mobiles, as he launched his affordable range of smartphones in Dubai.

The former chief executive of Apple, most famously known for forcing Jobs out of the company in 1985, made it clear that Obi Mobiles is not competing with the iPhone or any other high-end smart device.

Instead it is aiming at the lower to mid-range segment, with five smartphones priced between Dh99 and Dh599 in partnership with Jumbo Electronics, which will manage the distribution across the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq.

“There were two magic words – John Sculley, which made me say yes,” said Vishesh Bhatia, the chief executive at Jumbo Electronics. “Obi Mobiles launched in India, now we are prepared to launch in the UAE and the Gulf region.”

Obi Mobiles, Mr Sculley’s latest venture, marked its global launch in India in April, targeting youth. It is positioning itself as an aspirational brand for those without a large disposable income and is launching only in emerging markets.

"We are targeting emerging markets and young people because they see smartphones as an extension of themselves," said Mr Sculley.

From here, the company will expand to Africa and eventually South America over the next few months.

According to IDC, smartphone sales in emerging markets are set to grow by 32.4 per cent this year, and it is the affordable segment of the market that is expected to grow the fastest. Mobile manufacturers such as Nokia, Huawei and Lenovo are actively targeting this segment, with the latter two gaining significant market share over the past year.

“We want to get as close to 5 per cent share as we can in the emerging markets,” said Mr Sculley. “We will have to see how long that takes.”

The phones are designed in Silicon Valley, where some of Mr Sculley’s former colleagues at Apple have joined him.

“There is space in the market for a new entrant,” said Nabila Popal, the research manager of handsets and displays at IDC. “This whole year we’ve seen so many different phones come up and take market share.”

There are still a large number of feature phone users, said Ms Popal, who can be converted to smartphones, and Obi Mobiles’ low price points are likely to attract consumers conscious about cost.

“They’re definitely going to push the name behind the brand [John Sculley]. It if wasn’t for him, as a brand, Obi would not stand out. It would be just another new cheap smartphone,” said Ms Popal. “Given the fact he’s there, it will pique the interest of the people who want to see what he’s come up with.”

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