Ambani’s goal of ruling Indian smartphone market in trouble

Supply chain disruptions, rising parts prices and culture clashes with co-brand partner Google are hurting launch plans.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s plan to conquer the Indian market with a locally assembled Google-powered smartphone is facing headwinds, with supply-chain disruptions and rising component prices suppressing production volumes, people familiar with the matter said. Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. originally envisioned sales in the hundreds of millions in the first years for the inexpensive device but now targets a small fraction of that at launch, the people said. The co-branded phone is set for its unveiling at the conglomerate’s June 24 shareholder meeting, followed by an official debut as early as August or September, the people said, asking not to be named as the plan isn’t public. The tycoon wants to remake the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market much the way he did wireless services — with aggressive pricing. But any delay in the effort would be a significant setback for Reliance and its Indian manufacturing partners. Chinese rivals like Xiaomi Corp., Oppo and OnePlus have established their brands and set up local manufacturing facilities as they pursue the same audience of consumers upgrading from basic 2G devices.