Oppo bets big on India, plans huge investment
NEW DELHI: Chinese smartphone maker Oppo is taking big steps into India, a key market where it will begin manufacturing at a more granular level besides entering into the online sales segment, after jumping to the No 5 spot in quick time on the back of traditional offline sales.
Oppo will partner with Flipkart to launch exclusive online models starting this week, and will co-invest in branding and marketing to strengthen its position as a top player in the country.
“OPPO Mobiles would begin operations at the brand new SMT facility in Greater Noida in 2017 as part of our commitment under Make in India programme,” an India spokesperson said.
SMT, or surface mount technology, produces the printed circuit boards of an electronic device, on which various circuits are embedded that allow basic functioning of the device, in this case a smartphone. At present, most companies except for Samsung assemble phones from semi-knocked down (SKD) mobile phone modules or kits. SMT is part of the completely knocked down (CKD) phase of assembling, wherein a handset maker imports individual components in a CKD form and assembles them in India. This takes manufacturing a step up from SKD.
Besides its existing facility in Greater Noida, the company is also planning a 1000-acre industrial park with an investment of over Rs 1,400 crore. Part of a long-term plan, operations in this park are expected to begin in the next two to three years.
The company which edged out Apple and Samsung in China to become the No 1 smartphone brand, has similar ambitions in the India market which is led by the Korean player, and is now attacking the online market. It has now teamed up with Flipkart to sell phone models exclusive to the online channel, starting with the F1s Rose Gold Limited Edition announced on Thursday, priced at Rs 18,990.
"This is the first product… going ahead, many more models will be launched exclusively online with Flipkart," Ayyapan Rajgopal, director of mobiles and IoT category, said.
Analysts said that since the company's brand has significant recall value, it would like to cash on the growing online market as well, which is a third of the overall market.
"However to avoid any conflict with their channel partners they need to have dedicated and separate online strategy for Indian market," Tarun Pathak, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, said.
Flipkart's Rajgopal said that the country's largest online retailer was 'working very deeply' with Oppo to get into different price segments. "We will tell them which models and price points to garner more share. Oppo will be a priority brand for us in the Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 category," he said.
Flipkart will help Oppo build a position in the Rs 10,000-15,000 and Rs 20,000-Rs 25,000 price brackets with exclusive models in these bands, which is different from the Rs 15,000-20,000 segment, where the company is very strong. This, Rajgopal said, would avoid any discrepancy in prices in the offline market, and reduce the chances of brick-and-mortar sellers to sell models at a discount online.
Oppo will partner with Flipkart to launch exclusive online models starting this week, and will co-invest in branding and marketing to strengthen its position as a top player in the country.
“OPPO Mobiles would begin operations at the brand new SMT facility in Greater Noida in 2017 as part of our commitment under Make in India programme,” an India spokesperson said.
SMT, or surface mount technology, produces the printed circuit boards of an electronic device, on which various circuits are embedded that allow basic functioning of the device, in this case a smartphone. At present, most companies except for Samsung assemble phones from semi-knocked down (SKD) mobile phone modules or kits. SMT is part of the completely knocked down (CKD) phase of assembling, wherein a handset maker imports individual components in a CKD form and assembles them in India. This takes manufacturing a step up from SKD.
Besides its existing facility in Greater Noida, the company is also planning a 1000-acre industrial park with an investment of over Rs 1,400 crore. Part of a long-term plan, operations in this park are expected to begin in the next two to three years.
The company which edged out Apple and Samsung in China to become the No 1 smartphone brand, has similar ambitions in the India market which is led by the Korean player, and is now attacking the online market. It has now teamed up with Flipkart to sell phone models exclusive to the online channel, starting with the F1s Rose Gold Limited Edition announced on Thursday, priced at Rs 18,990.
"This is the first product… going ahead, many more models will be launched exclusively online with Flipkart," Ayyapan Rajgopal, director of mobiles and IoT category, said.
Analysts said that since the company's brand has significant recall value, it would like to cash on the growing online market as well, which is a third of the overall market.
"However to avoid any conflict with their channel partners they need to have dedicated and separate online strategy for Indian market," Tarun Pathak, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, said.
Flipkart's Rajgopal said that the country's largest online retailer was 'working very deeply' with Oppo to get into different price segments. "We will tell them which models and price points to garner more share. Oppo will be a priority brand for us in the Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 category," he said.
Flipkart will help Oppo build a position in the Rs 10,000-15,000 and Rs 20,000-Rs 25,000 price brackets with exclusive models in these bands, which is different from the Rs 15,000-20,000 segment, where the company is very strong. This, Rajgopal said, would avoid any discrepancy in prices in the offline market, and reduce the chances of brick-and-mortar sellers to sell models at a discount online.
