Oppo aims to be India’s top smartphone brand in 3 years

Sharath Chowdary 

Chinese electronics manufacturer Oppo has plans to become the top smartphone brand in India over the next three years. The company is providing the best service and better smartphone models to the customers to increase its market share in the country, said Jone, CEO and MD of Oppo Telangana.

He said this on the sidelines of the sale promotion event of Oppo F1s in Hyderabad on Thursday. Jone was speaking in Mandarin while his interpreter Dustin translated it into English for The Dollar Business Bureau correspondent.

According to him, Oppo is the second largest electronic brand being imported from China with more than 2.3 million handsets shipped to India in the last year. Oppo is the second leading smartphone manufacturer in China, next only to Huawei.

The Gartner report reveals Oppo has captured 4.5% market share in international smartphone sales at 16.1 million units during the first quarter of 2016, when compared to 6.6 million units in the corresponding period last year. This Chinese brand has witnessed strong growth in emerging markets in the Asia Pacific region.

Speaking about the ranking of Oppo in the smartphone market, Jone said, “Oppo ranks fourth in the global smartphone market, while it is fifth in the Indian market. We understand the demand for good selfie camera quality in the country. The company is focused in enhancing the selfie revolution with the latest selfie expert F1s having advanced photography technology for excellent selfie experience."

With regard to features in the new Oppo, he said, “F1s is the upgraded version of the previous selfie expert F1. Along with 16MP front camera, F1s has beautification feature, 0.22s fingerprint reader, 5.5-inch screen, Octa-core processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB ROM and 3075mAh battery at a cost of Rs.17,990."

When asked about the company’s manufacturing units in the country, Jone said, "We are committed to the Make in India initiative, and we have already started a manufacturing facility in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Initially, we are assembling the smartphones by importing the spare parts such as camera lens and steel panels from China."

India is a key market for Oppo, as the demand for smartphones is increasing tremendously. The twelve-year old company has forayed into the mobile phone segment in 2008. It has expanded to over 20 global markets and is registered in over 140 countries. Oppo entered India in 2014 and has been witnessing a steady growth.