On August 24, 2017, Reliance unveiled their game-changing 4G feature phone called the JioPhone. The phone had internet connectivity, its own app store, navigation in maps and voice command support as well. While all eyes were on Reliance, it was a milestone for another company as well. KaiOS, the company which powered the very phone. We at Killer Features had an opportunity to talk to the KaiOS team on the past, present and future of the company.

"It all started in 2011 with Firefox OS when Mozilla started this project. The company spent a couple of years building the platform and with TCL as partners it released some phones as well. In 2016, Mozilla stopped the development of FireFox OS. That's when our CEO Sebastien Codeville thought that it is time to make a new company for feature phones based on Firefox OS," said Tim Hertz in conversation with Killer Features.

Later, KaiOS was born and TCL bought a minority stake in the company. Along with TCL, KaiOS launched Alcatel Go Flip in May of 2017. But its claim to fame came with the JioPhone months later in August.

A Jio and Kai(OS) Love story

"We started talking with Reliance a year before the launch in 2016. It was an exciting project for us. India is a huge market where there was a lot of scope for 4G feature phones," Hertz said. KaiOS boasts a lot of functions which can make feature phone almost like a smartphone. 4G LTE support, a dedicated app store, support for radios such as GPS, NFC, WiFi and more makes the platform really unique.

"These functions helped in making Jio Phone what it is," Hertz opined, "Because of the GPS support Maps and Navigation can work. NFC helps JioPhone to make payments. A lot of which wasn't available for the feature phones".

After the launch, JioPhone has had a strong run of booking and sales even though there were a few hiccups in the pre-booking phase. A report from IDC suggests that JioPhone had captured almost a quarter of the feature phone market in Q4 2017. With production moving to India, the share is expected to go up.

Although after the launch there has been hardly any updates to the phone. A lot of functions mentioned at the keynote are still missing. We asked KaiOS on how the updates work. "It is like Android system. We release the code and then manufacturers work on it. From our end KaiOS 2.5 is available," Hertz said.

We also asked what are the top most features Indian consumers have asked for. "WhatsApp is certainly on the top," Hertz said and laughed, "however we have nothing to share on that at the moment." He also mentioned that WiFi hotspot is another feature which has been demanded multiple times. Hertz said that technically KaiOS supports WiFi hotspots but it is for the manufacturer to execute it.

A report from counterpoint suggested that Reliance shipped almost 18 million phones in that quarter which is a huge number. This gives KaiOS a huge boost as a platform. Reliance seems to be loving the platform as well. Recently, Reliance Retail picked up a 16% stake in the company by investing $7 million.

Global ambitions

At MWC KaiOS announced multiple partnerships. One of the biggest was the return of Nokia HMD's Banana phone Nokia 8110. The feature phone which appeared in the movie 'The Matrix' will run KaiOS. It is expected to make an appearance in India later in the year along with other countries in the world. Additionally, the company announced a bunch of software and hardware partners. "In our upcoming KaiOS 2.5 update Google maps, Google Assistant, Google Search, Facebook and Twitter will be the part of the app store," Hertz said. He also mentioned that the company is working with chipmakers such as Speadtrum, NXP and Qualcomm. KaiOS also said that it will work with Indian Smartphone maker Micromax to ship phones to UAE and Sri Lanka.

A report from CounterPoint suggests that worldwide there will be more than 60 million KaiOS feature phones shipped in 2018. With that, the company will aim to take 14% of the market share amongst feature phone platforms by the end of the year. Hertz said that KaiOS has already shipped 30 million phones.

The bet is on KaiOS to be the Android of the feature phones in terms of market share in a couple of years. And with really powerful partners by their side, it is quite possible as well.