Global smartphone maker OPPO on Saturday announced the launch of a research and development centre in the city — its first in India, fourth in the world and the largest outside China. The centre is expected to “bring exciting innovation and advanced technologies in India”.
Hyderabad was chosen as the location as it is centrally located in the Indian subcontinent and offers an environment that encourages innovation and development of cutting edge technology. The centre’s key focus areas will be software localisation for Indian customers, Tasleem Arif, vice-president and R&D head of OPPO India, said. The company had recently announced a global investment of RMB10 billion towards the R&D space for 2019.
Speaking at the launch at Hitech City’s Raheja Mindspace centre, Mr. Arif explained, “The opening of our R&D centre in Hyderabad will help us implement innovative and exciting technologies in future products that we introduce in India as well as help us build a local ecosystem for smartphone devices”. For OPPO, India is an “extremely important market”, he added.
“OPPO aims to drive innovation locally through the R&D centre in Hyderabad. We are looking forward to filing new patents for new technologies for our consumers to truly experience the best of technology,” he said.
The R&D centre will hire researchers from premier institutes like the IITs. The primary aim is “better understanding of the Indian consumers...The R&D centre will be focusing on product stabilisation along with the Indian operators through collaborations,” Mr. Arif said. Improving research and development would mean that OPPO will integrate its supply chain and build on its technical expertise to enhance the company’s technological capabilities.
A range of smart devices, including smart watches and smart home technologies, are in the offing, he revealed.