Aussie Google phone launch by Christmas
A small consumer electronics maker in Melbourne, which specialises in undercutting the big brands, has become the first in Australia to announce plans to launch a mobile phone based on Google's Android platform.
Ruslan Kogan, 25 - who has been selling cut-priced Kogan-branded TV sets, GPS systems, DVD players and other gadgets over the internet from his base in Elsternwick for the past 2½ years - says he will sell the phone from December 15 for $199.
Google has made the Android software open-source, meaning virtually anyone can build phones based around the platform without obtaining permission from Google.
So far the Google phones have been launched only in the US, but Australians can already buy them on eBay for about $1000.
Motorola and Asus are reportedly working on their own models but neither has announced plans to launch in Australia.
Kogan said his Google phone would look similar to the iPhone in that it would be a touch-screen device with no built-in keyboard. He said it would include WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and a trackball to aid in navigation.
"We've got a few designs that we can easily choose from. We know the components that's going to go into the phone," he said.
"It's a matter of loading the Android system on to the phone, configuring it, making sure it works very well and then the manufacturing of the few thousands phones that we need to launch it is just a matter of a day or two."
He said his private company, Kogan Technologies, turned over about $8 million last year and was on track to increase this to between $15 million and $20 million this year.
Kogan said his secret was a lack of overheads because he ordered his products directly from the factories in China, which built the gadgets exactly to his specifications.
The business is entirely online-based and Kogan has shunned retailers in favour of a direct-to-consumer model, enabling him to offer lower prices than other manufacturers.
The streamlined model has also allowed Kogan to bring products to market more quickly - he claims he was the first in Australia to sell digital photo frames about three years ago.
Kogan said he had 10 employees, including five who worked full-time, and all warehousing was outsourced. He hires university students to provide around-the-clock support from their computers at home.
Kogan, who recently expanded to New Zealand and is planning to move into Britain and the US, rejected suggestions that his low prices - $1449 for a 42-inch LCD TV with high definition tuner - meant his products contained cheap, low quality parts.
Reviewers have praised his products for their low prices but some have said that picture quality is not as good as in some of the bigger brands, which have teams of engineers tweaking and tuning the products for optimal performance.
But he counters that his products are not all about price and that quality is still a consideration. He tries to strike a balance between price and quality.
"Our 42-inch [LCD TV] range uses an LG panel, it's got a Samsung tuner board in it - whatever the best value-for-money solution in that size is, I'll have the factory make that up."
source
Ruslan Kogan, 25 - who has been selling cut-priced Kogan-branded TV sets, GPS systems, DVD players and other gadgets over the internet from his base in Elsternwick for the past 2½ years - says he will sell the phone from December 15 for $199.
Google has made the Android software open-source, meaning virtually anyone can build phones based around the platform without obtaining permission from Google.
So far the Google phones have been launched only in the US, but Australians can already buy them on eBay for about $1000.
Motorola and Asus are reportedly working on their own models but neither has announced plans to launch in Australia.
Kogan said his Google phone would look similar to the iPhone in that it would be a touch-screen device with no built-in keyboard. He said it would include WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and a trackball to aid in navigation.
"We've got a few designs that we can easily choose from. We know the components that's going to go into the phone," he said.
"It's a matter of loading the Android system on to the phone, configuring it, making sure it works very well and then the manufacturing of the few thousands phones that we need to launch it is just a matter of a day or two."
He said his private company, Kogan Technologies, turned over about $8 million last year and was on track to increase this to between $15 million and $20 million this year.
Kogan said his secret was a lack of overheads because he ordered his products directly from the factories in China, which built the gadgets exactly to his specifications.
The business is entirely online-based and Kogan has shunned retailers in favour of a direct-to-consumer model, enabling him to offer lower prices than other manufacturers.
The streamlined model has also allowed Kogan to bring products to market more quickly - he claims he was the first in Australia to sell digital photo frames about three years ago.
Kogan said he had 10 employees, including five who worked full-time, and all warehousing was outsourced. He hires university students to provide around-the-clock support from their computers at home.
Kogan, who recently expanded to New Zealand and is planning to move into Britain and the US, rejected suggestions that his low prices - $1449 for a 42-inch LCD TV with high definition tuner - meant his products contained cheap, low quality parts.
Reviewers have praised his products for their low prices but some have said that picture quality is not as good as in some of the bigger brands, which have teams of engineers tweaking and tuning the products for optimal performance.
But he counters that his products are not all about price and that quality is still a consideration. He tries to strike a balance between price and quality.
"Our 42-inch [LCD TV] range uses an LG panel, it's got a Samsung tuner board in it - whatever the best value-for-money solution in that size is, I'll have the factory make that up."
source
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