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Google invested $22 million in KaiOS in 2018 to help expand a low-cost phone platform that could bring Google Search, Maps, YouTube and Google Assistant to inexpensive feature phones. The deal built on Google services already announced for KaiOS phones, including the Nokia 8110 4G; it did not mean every KaiOS handset received the same apps.
What Google’s $22 million investment was for
TechCrunch reported Google’s $22 million investment in KaiOS on June 27, 2018. KaiOS Technologies later described it as a $22 million Series A investment, writing in a January 2019 retrospective that the companies had “strengthened our strategic partnership with Google through a $22M Series A investment.”
The investment aligned Google with KaiOS, a platform for relatively inexpensive, low-power smart feature phones. The strategic fit was distribution: KaiOS could connect basic, affordable handsets to web services, while Google could make its search, maps, video and voice-assistant services available to people who might not have access to a smartphone or a conventional app ecosystem.
It was an investment in the platform and partnership, not a promise that Google would make every service available on every KaiOS model. App availability could vary by handset, market, firmware and carrier.
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Which Google services came to KaiOS phones
The services most closely associated with the partnership were Google Search, Google Maps, YouTube and Google Assistant. Their presence gave supported feature phones capabilities beyond calls and texting, including web search, maps and voice interaction. A feature phone’s screen, controls, memory and data connection still shaped how those services could be used; access did not make the handset equivalent to an Android smartphone.
Google Assistant was a particular fit for devices with limited keyboards and screens: voice input could make search and other tasks easier without typing on a small keypad. Google said in February 2019 that tens of millions of affordable Android Go and KaiOS phones with Assistant built in had been sold over the preceding couple of years. That figure combined Android Go and KaiOS devices, so it is not a KaiOS-only sales count.
How the Nokia 8110 4G fits into the story
The Nokia 8110 4G was a prominent early example, but it was not the phone that single-handedly introduced Google services to cheap feature phones. Google services for KaiOS-powered Nokia phones, including the 8110 4G, were announced in February 2018—before the investment was reported that June. The phone helped make the platform’s proposition visible under a familiar global brand; the investment subsequently reinforced the broader Google-KaiOS relationship.
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KaiOS also reached regional markets through other makers and distributors. In December 2018, KaiOS announced Indonesia’s WizPhone WP006, illustrating that the platform’s reach was not limited to Nokia-branded devices.
How many KaiOS phones were in use
In its December 4, 2018 announcement about the WizPhone WP006, KaiOS Technologies said more than 50 million phones ran KaiOS across North America, Asia, Europe and Africa. This is a company-reported installed-base figure from 2018, not a count of phones sold because of Google’s investment.
A separate, later measure should not be treated as a direct update to that count: a 2025 GSMA industry brief estimated more than 100 million KaiOS users. That is an estimate of users rather than the same company-reported count of phones, and the available figure does not state geography or methodology. Google’s 2019 “tens of millions” statement is different again: it covered phones with Assistant built in across both Android Go and KaiOS.
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What the partnership changed—and what it did not
KaiOS addressed a gap between traditional feature phones and smartphones: it paired affordable, low-power hardware with web-connected services. That made the platform relevant to first-time internet users and to markets where cost, connectivity or device constraints could make a smartphone less practical.
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Quick Recap
Key dates in the Google-KaiOS partnership
- February 2018: Google services were announced for KaiOS-powered Nokia phones, including the Nokia 8110 4G.
- June 27, 2018: TechCrunch reported Google’s $22 million investment in KaiOS.
- December 4, 2018: KaiOS announced Indonesia’s WizPhone WP006 and said more than 50 million phones ran KaiOS.
- January 21, 2019: KaiOS described the investment as a $22 million Series A and highlighted access to Assistant, Maps and Search.
- February 19, 2019: KaiOS announced partners in six African countries whose devices included Google Assistant, Maps and YouTube.
- February 25, 2019: Google reported tens of millions of Android Go and KaiOS phones with Assistant built in, combining the two platforms in its statement.
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