Chinese smartphone maker Oppo has planned to launch a sub-brand and has begun assembling printed circuit boards (PCBs) at its new second plant in India. This comes right after few weeks of Xiaomi’s announcement of its own new manufacturing facilities including a PCB assembly unit.
With smartphones priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000, the sub-brand of Oppo will take Xiaomi head on. Oppo, which has designated a separate management for the sub-brand, has confirmed their decision on the basis of findings that the growing mid-segment in smartphones in India has generated good volumes and revenue.
Levi Lee, chief product officer of the new brand quoted: “In the past six months, we have conducted research among online young consumers and found some interesting market insights that consumers actually prefer phones with better appearance, differentiated design with an affordable price, solid build quality and unsacrificed performance,” said
Oppo’s new brand will also be limited to the online market, where Xiaomi has more than 47% share.
Chinese brands have taken their highest share ever – of 57% – in the Indian smartphone market, led by Xiaomi, which has a 31% share, as per data from Counterpoint Technology Market Research.
Oppo said that using its own factories and production lines locally to make phones under its new brand will help it control quality and provide better-designed products for its target audience, which is mostly the youth.
Oppo, which used to spend aggressively on promotions and marketing over the past couple of years, unlike Xiaomi, has cut margins and channel commissions and even let go off in-shop staff to control costs. Xiaomi, on the other hand, is expanding its offline presence with its Mi Home stores and preferred partner programme
