Out of the 40 countries and regions that Oppo has covered, India is the biggest one for the company, said Will Yang, CMO, Oppo South Asia, calling it a core area for its brand growth and the sales performance.

“As a brand, Oppo is more focused on the customer’s experience. So, we are listening to the customers, especially the Indian customers. And then, we tailor special features and optimise the software for those customers,” Yang told BusinessLine. Tasleem Arif, Vice-President and R&D Head, Oppo India, said that more India specific innovations can be expected from Oppo’s upcoming products.

Calling the company’s current marketing strategy and its focus on Bollywood and sports sustainable, Yang said that in the future, Oppo will also be looking at collaborations in the field of arts and music too.

Oppo expanded its F series portfolio of smartphones in India with the launch of Oppo F11 Pro on Tuesday. The Oppo F11 Pro will be available on Flipkart, Amazon.in, Paytm, Snapdeal and Oppo stores from March 15 for ₹24,990 and will come in two colour variants —Thunder Black and Aurora Green. “The Oppo F series has been one of the most highly acclaimed product portfolios in India, and we are hopeful that Oppo F11 Pro will take forward its legacy of innovation into the future,” said Yang.

Investing in India

The Chinese handset maker had recently invested $1.43 billion in R&D across its global markets in 2019. “We are doing heavy investment in all (areas) — manufacturing, R&D and creating the ecosystem in all the multiple directions, and want to give the best product to the Indian consumer, (which is) made in India,” said Arif. The company recently set up a Greenfield Electronic Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) in Greater Noida to manufacture electronics and accessories locally, which is expected to receive an investment of around ₹3,500 crore over a period of 5-10 years.

Acknowledging that there is heavy competition in the Indian market, Arif said that innovation is the only thing which can help any brand to stay in the market. “Currently, the kind of investment that Oppo is doing in the R&D side, hardly very few brands have done..But, since we know that we want to stay here for long term, we are doing a lot of heavy investments today,” he said. Oppo’s innovation is based on consumer feedback, he added.

On the launch of the 5G smartphone in India, Arif said that Oppo is in discussion with the Indian operators. He said that once the operator is ready with the network infrastructure, the trial will be done and further steps can be taken. “From Oppo’s side, we are ready with the 5G device,” he said.

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