Oppo, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer is gearing up to establish a manufacturing unit in Noida under ‘Make in India’ initiative. By pumping an investment of Rs. 100 crore, the unit, expected to start operations in August 2016 and will have an initial capacity to produce 10 million handsets.
Commenting on the new unit, Sky Li, Global Vice President, Oppo revealed that when the facility starts its operations in August, the company will manufacture all its upcoming handsets in India instead of China.
Despite starting its own new manufacturing unit, Li disclosed that the present partnership with Foxconn will continue. He, however, declined to comment on how long the partnership would exist.
Presently, Foxconn has a dedicated production facility at its Chennai factory for Oppo’s smartphone. Li further stated that the company is not looking India as an export hub and the new manufacturing plant is to meet the growing needs of large supplies in India.
Oppo’s decision to establish an exclusive manufacturing hub in India comes in the wake of several smartphone manufacturers tapping into the multi-billion dollar opportunity due to the friendly economy situation and relaxed norms under ‘Make in India.’
While handset manufacturers like Samsung, Micromax, Xiaomi, Gionee, Lenovo, and OnePlus have already set up production units in India, the recent entrant Coolpad has tied up with Videocon to manufacture their Note branded smartphones.
Recently, Oppo’s range of smartphones has gained immense popularity due to massive promotional campaigns via social media. Oppo, meanwhile, has appointed cricketer Yuvraj Singh as its first sports ambassador for the upcoming cricket season.
Oppo is currently focused on the mid and premium smartphone segment in India. Priced at Rs. 26,990, the recently launched Oppo F1 Plus features a 5.5-inch display, 2GHz MediaTek octa-core processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB memory, 13 MP rear camera and 2,850 mAh battery including a 16MP front-facing shooter.
