Mozilla's promise to release ultra-cheap smartphones in areas underserved by major U.S. players is taking shape: The company on Tuesday announced plans to bring its affordable Firefox OS devices to India in the next few months.
Sample devices using Spreadtrum chipsets are on display during this week's Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai, and will be released via mobile device brands Intex and Spice.
"This partnership with Mozilla showcases our commitment to providing the best technological innovations first-hand to our customers," Spice CEO Dilip Modi said in a statement. "These phones will be affordably priced to ensure everyone can enjoy and experience the power of the Firefox OS phone."
Mozilla did not release exact pricing details, but at CES in January, the company promised a "flood" of $25 smartphones, so Indian consumers can probably expect the first Firefox OS handsets to carry a similar price tag.
"The [Firefox] platform will give us an edge in upgrading buyers from feature phones to smartphones, while making it affordable for the mass market," said Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, head of Index's mobile division. "This will propel our devices to be much more than a way to use the Web, but take the engagement further and develop the Web as a mobile platform."
Also at the Mobile Asia Expo, Mozilla announced a partnership with Chunghwa Telecom, the largest operator in Taiwan, which joins the company's other global partners Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, China Unicom, KDDI, and SingTel.
Plus, two Firefox OS smartphones announced at February's Mobile World Congress will also go on sale soon: the ZTE Open II, expected in Latin America this summer, and the Alcatel OneTouch Fire E.
Both sport dual-core processors, while the OneTouch handset comes with a 5-megapixel camera and 4.5-inch qHD screen, plus the promise of personalization and an affordable price.
"Mozilla is dedicated to putting the power of the Web in people's hands, and Firefox OS frees consumers, developers, mobile providers, and manufacturers from the limitations and restrictions of proprietary platforms," Mozilla COO Li Gong said. "[I]t is clear that momentum for Firefox OS is continuing to accelerate."