Why Pepsi P1 smartphone is Good news for Smartphones makers

In what may the start of the ultimate Marketing war between Pepsi and Coca Cola, Pepsi has decided to get into the Smartphone world as per the article “Is the world ready for a Pepsi Phone?”, published October 10, 2015 By David Nield, Digitaltrends. 

Or at least for Pepsi Co Inc. in China, which means I need to brush up on my Mandarin.

Specifically, they've decided to make a smartphone as reported in the article “PepsiCo says to market mobile phones, accessories in China”, published Thursday Oct 15, 2015 by Milek Blake, CNET News.

This surprise announcement came on Pepsi Weibo account, which the Chinese equivalent of Twitter and is actually from the Pepsi Co Inc. in China, as this promotion seems to be geared towards the Chinese market as reported in the article “Pepsi Getting Ready To Release Its Own Smartphone?”, published October 9, 2015 by Mihai Matei, G for Games.

This announcement on Friday October 9^th 2015 comes after Pepsi Co Inc. had announced that they'd be making the Pepsi Perfect, the product seen in the movie Back to the Future II as reported in the article “Pepsi Perfect from 'Back to the Future' gets real this month”, published October 5, 2015 by Amanda Kooser, CNET News. 

The Pepsi Perfect is to be launched on Thursday October 21^st 2015, the day when the movie's main character Marty McFly, is supposed to arrive from the past in the movie Back to the Future II. The product is a promotion push by Pepsi and only 6,500 bottles in collectible cases will be sold, which you'll have to order online.

So it's a collectible and is NOT for Drinking!

This Pepsi smartphone probably ties into their promotional push. So what is the name of the Pepsi smartphone and what exactly are the specs for this marketing Unicorn?

Specs for the Pepsi P1 - Decent low-end Budget Phablet that's not a Toy

First thing off the bat, this isn't being made directly by Pepsi Co Inc.

Like Telecom Provider Digicel here in Jamaica, Pepsi Co Inc most likely contracted an OEM (Original Equiptment Manufacturer) of smartphones to make a branded smartphone for them as the video below suggests.

 This is not an unusual practice and is very common practice in marketing, as can be seen in some Supermarkets like Hi-Lo in Cross Roads that sells products branded with the supermarket’s Logo.

That being said, the specs for the Pepsi P1, as it is allegedly to be called, are pretty impressive for a promotional product as noted in the article “Pepsi wants to sell you a smartphone with that soda”, published October 12, 2015 by Eric Mack, CNET News.

 

According to the article “Pepsi also do phone 5.5 inch screen priced at 1299”, published October 11, 2015 by Fei Leng Network, Sina (folks, you need to brush up on your Mandarin!) the specs are for a fairly impressive phablet and not a toy for children.

The Pepsi P1 is a 5.5" smartphone with a 1,080p display. It's packing Google Android 5.1 Lollipop that runs on a 1.7GHz CPU with a decent 2 GB RAM. The Internal storage of 16GB is at the lower end of the scale, but this is more than likely expandable with a micro SD Card.

Pepsi P1 may be more than a Marketing Product - May be launched worldwide as more than a Promotional Product

But the real surprise isn't the specs but the price, which is set at US$205 unlocked as reported in the article “The Pepsi phone is real, and here’s what it looks like”, published October 12, 2015 By Kyle Wiggers, Digitaltrends. 

Whether or not this means Pepsi will be making a push into making more smartphones is what’s of interest to me personally. This may be the start of Brand name companies contracting OEM’s to make Branded products not only as a marketing gimmick but as a way for them to sell more units.

I’m hoping that Pepsi Co Inc will make this smartphone available to the rest of the world and not just China as noted in the article “Pepsi is launching an Android phone in China”, published October 12, 2015 by Sean O'Kane, The Verge before the Pepsi Perfect arrives on Wednesday October 21^st 2015

Folks, set the date Tuesday October 20^th 2015 in you scheduler in your smartphone or on your calendar (that's me!) as that's the day that the Pepsi P1 is set to arrive with Marty McFly, Back to the Future II Style!