Prabhu RamChinese handset makers Oppo and OnePlus are setting up research and development centres in India to improve their offerings of localised products and services for the fast-growing smartphone market and create hubs for global innovation.
The move is a natural extension of their already expanding local manufacturing capability, analysts said.
OnePlus, the leader in India’s premium smartphone segment, has said it wants the new facility to become its biggest in the world in the next three years. It aims to use the R&D facility — expected to be operational by March — to drive innovation in India for its global products.
According to Prabhu Ram, head of the industry intelligence group at CyberMedia Research, handset companies setting up R&D centres is the next natural extension of their ongoing India strategy.“It also showcases their commitment to India as a growth market and their continued intent on investing in, developing and leveraging made-in-India innovations,” said Ram.“As a result, the India mobile handset market will become the hub for new smartphone innovations, not just for India but the world,” Ram said.
Analysts said that over the next few years, these R&D centres will catalyse the Indian mobile handset ecosystem and contribute to the generation of new intellectual property as well as new made-for-India smartphone innovations.
