Cyanogen
co-founder Steve Kondik has spoken up on the
OnePlus vs.
Micromax
dispute, while also promising his firm will provide a stable build of
the upcoming CM12 OS based on Android 5.0 Lollipop to
OnePlus One users.
The
latter should not come as too much of a surprise - the company
earlier this month
began publishing CM12 nightly builds for the OnePlus One 'bacon' based
on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop, while back in December as well it had
promised
global devices (i.e. ones not sold in India) would receive firmware updates.
What is interesting to note is Kondik's take on his company's role in
the
Micromax versus OnePlus lawsuit that is ongoing in the Delhi High
Court.
Speaking to Android Central, Kondik
said
Cyanogen's interpretation of the exclusivity agreement with Micromax and
its subsidiary
Yu Televentures differed from the Indian company's.
"We're
stuck in the middle of a fight between OnePlus and Micromax, because
we're supplying the OS to both companies," said Kondik. "With each
company, a short exclusivity was included in the agreements and we
thought they were pretty straightforward. Our agreement with Micromax
was a little more specific for the services we were providing, but it
was never meant to be retroactive against OnePlus, and that's where the
problem came from. With Micromax we were helping build an India-specific
device that doesn't really work anywhere else, while OnePlus was
designed to be a global device that worked almost everywhere."
Kondik
also defended Cyanogen's founding principles, saying the OS wasn't licensed to
Micromax for a great deal of money; in fact, both Micromax and OnePlus
have been licensed the OS for free.
While this may seem contrary
to
Micromax's statement
in its request for an injunction on OnePlus One handsets in India,
where it said it had "incurred major expenses for creation of a brand
exclusivity for providing to Indian customers mobile phones with
Cyanogen operating systems," as Android Central notes, this can be
explained away with marketing expenses related to establishing the
brand.
Kondik added, "We're still a venture-funded company.
There's still no focus on monetization, and when those plans do fall in
to place it will be once the potential market is much larger. This is
the most important thing I hope people understand - we're still in it
for the same reasons that the project got started around. We want to
bring this new experience that users can help mold and shape as we go.
It would be completely idiotic to stray from that."
Defending CEO
Kirt McMaster's rather
abrupt emails with the OnePlus team over the
termination of their contract due to the new agreement with Micromax,
Kondik said the
emails
that were publicised were only a small part from the end of the mail
chain, and not the best way to assess the way things went down.
Kondik
added that Cyanogen would provide the Lollipop update to OnePlus One
handsets, but said after that, things were still uncertain.
"OnePlus
is a startup just like us. And they are crazy ambitious. I'm not sure
our long-term visions are necessarily converging based on the
conversations we've had, but we're still going to support the [OnePlus]
One. We're still behind them for this device, with plans to ship
(Lollipop) next month, and I have no idea what the future holds beyond
that."
For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.
Further reading:
CM,
CM12,
CM12S,
Cyanogen,
Cyanogen Inc,
CyanogenMod,
Kirt McMaster,
Micromax,
OnePlus,
OnePlus One,
Steve Kondik,
Yu,
Yu Televentures,
Yu Yureka
All New Tourist Vehicles Provided for Rentals in Goa to be EVs from January 2024, CM Says19 July 2023
Search
![Gadgets 360 With Technical Guruji: News of the Week [March 29, 2025]](https://c.ndtvimg.com/2025-03/9cu1890s_news-of-the-week_160x120_29_March_25.jpg?downsize=180:*)
