In an unexpected turn of events, Cyanogen.inc has entered an exclusive partnership with Micromax in India. This also means loads of disappointment for OnePlus One fans in India, as Cyanogen will not be upgrading any other CyanogenMod device in India to later versions of Android including Android 5.0 Lollipop.
The successor of OnePlus or any other brand shipping to India will not get Cyanogen ROM support. Next month, Cyanogen and Micromax will launch their YU brand of devices in India running tailor made Cyanogen ROM.
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YU brand of smartphones will exclusively retail online and compete with Chinese manufacturers and other new entrants who don’t have a solid distribution network on the ground, but manage to make headlines with their aggressive online retail and marketing strategy.
“Cyanogen’s exclusive deal also means that Cyanogen OS will not support any other devices shipping in India with future updates including Lollipop.”
“ The first device from YU slated to be announced in December will also be the first to launch with Cyanogen’s new Themes app, supported by a powerful theming engine that will enable deep levels of UI personalization, and Nextbit’s Baton, a revolutionary cloud-syncing app service. ” states Cyanogen Inc’s press statement.
Micromax seems to be playing its cards right with its new YU brand. No other player can now launch a Cyanogen OS based smartphone in India. Increasing stakes of Cyanogen in YU brands is indeed exciting and we are eager to see what this partnership yields in the coming future.
