Google Kills Plan To Make Modular Phone

Alphabet Inc.'s Google is killing plans to make a modular phone, according to two people familiar with the project, the end of an ambitious internal program to reinvent smartphones.

The company told partners in the past week that it was ending its three-year-old Project Ara, which aimed to develop smartphones with modular, replaceable parts that snap onto its back, one of the people said. Ara's end is part of a larger reorganization of Google's hardware team under new hardware chief Rick Osterloh that intends to narrow its focus on a handful of important projects, the other person said.

The decision to end the project is an about-face for Google, which in May unveiled a new modular-phone prototype to much fanfare at its annual developers conference. At that event, the company said it planned to release the phones to developers by year's end and start selling them commercially next year.

Modular phones are designed to have parts that can snap on and off, such as extra speakers, camera lenses or a glucometer for diabetes patients. Some other phone makers, including LG Electronics Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd., have recently released such devices. The modular design is intended to enable customers to customize their phone's hardware for their preferences— much like they can do with apps—but it also adds bulk and complexity to the device.

Google is hoping its work on Ara isn't a total waste, though. The company is seeking partners to buy or license the technology, one person said.

The decision caps a rocky journey for Ara, which began in 2013 under phone maker Motorola, then owned by Google. It later moved to a Google research lab called the Advanced Technology and Projects group.

The advanced-technology group typically has a two-year deadline for its projects but it extended Ara's timeline because the team was struggling to get the phone from prototype to large-scale production. Those struggles partly caused the group to suspend plans a year ago to launch the modular phone in Puerto Rico.

In April, the advanced-technology group's head, former Pentagon research chief Regina Dugan, left for a similar role at Facebook Inc. Ara lost some support after her departure, one person said.

Reuters first reported Google's plans to shelve the project.

Write to Jack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 02, 2016 13:15 ET (17:15 GMT)

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