Chinese Smartphone Manufacturer Oppo has begun assembling printed circuit boards (PCB’s) at its maiden second plant in India and is also planning to launch a sub-brand aimed at taking over arch contender Xiaomi, which is currently the leading player in the Indian market.
Just a few weeks ago this month, Xiaomi had announced its own new manufacturing facilities including a PCB assembly unit to be used for its new sub-brand which is tentatively expected to launch next month. And now, rival Oppo too has revealed its plan to set up 50 million phone production capacity plant and PCB assembly.
Levi Lee, Chief Product Officer at Oppo’s new brand said,
We have conducted a thorough research among online young consumers in last six months and have found that customers are more inclined to phones that have a better appearance, differentiated design with an affordable price, solid build quality and unsacrificed performance.
Oppo subbrand is expected to capture Xiaomi’s market for devices priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000, the growing mid segment that is responsible for generating good volume as well as revenue, confirmed members from Oppo’s new sub-brand.
Oppo currently stands at No. 4 in the Indian smartphone market and holds a share of 5.6%. Moreover, Oppo is known to have aggressive strategies for the promotion has cut margins and channel commissions and even let go off in-shop staff to control costs. Xiaomi, on the other hand, is focusing on the expansion of its offline presence with Mi Home stores and preferred partner programme.
Earlier, Micromax had also launched its Yu brand in the Indian market with an aim to capture the mid-price segment. Similarly, Local rival Lava too launched Xolo, which was eventually merged back into the company.
While in the past we have witnessed many smartphone makers unsuccessful in the strategy, Oppo’s new route will be successful or not, only times will unfold in the mystery.