How Reliance Jio's Google deal in India threatens Chinese mobile market

Powered by a clever mix of Bollywood, cricket-driven marketing and product features such as powerful cameras, the Chinese firms at present sell roughly eight of every 10 smartphones in the country

A $4.5-billion deal, under which Alphabet's Google will collaborate with India's Reliance Industries on a new smartphone, likely heralds a big shake-up for the world's second-largest mobile market, industry executives and analysts say.

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, announcing the partnership at his company's annual meeting last week, said Google would build an Android operating system (OS) to power a low-cost "4G or even 5G" smartphone that Reliance would design.

The new phone is set to pose a major challenge to Chinese vendors such as Xiaomi and BBK Electronics, owner of the Realme, Oppo and Vivo brands, which currently dominate