The company has seen 200 per cent year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter of 2020 in the country following the launch of the Nord in July last year
Premium smartphone maker OnePlus is in the Indian market for the long haul and is looking to increase investments to strengthen local manufacturing in the country, Founder and CEO Pete Lau said.
“We are very much committed to the Indian market for the long term. I made this announcement (of Rs 1,000 crore investment in R&D) in 2019 about our large-scale investment in India, and this is something that we very much continue to develop and grow going forward.
Lau said at a virtual briefing that OnePlus’ India R&D team is a very “important pillar” for both business in India and global operations.
The company has seen 200 per cent year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter of 2020 in the country following the launch of the Nord in July last year, added Lau.
The company also wants to make its Internet of Things (IoT) products locally, with Lau saying that IoT is a central part of the company’s strategy and that OnePlus was building out the IoT ecosystem with products “being launched and experimented with first in India”.
“It’s something that we’re very excited to bring first to India in terms of creating these seamless experiences and different IoT products that offer different user experiences across different scenarios. So it’s really exciting to explore that in India first, and then develop our IoT strategy from there,” he added.
The top executive said OnePlus was also committed to deeper investment into manufacturing in the country.
“We are looking into deeper investments in manufacturing and development… both smart TVs and smartphones are being pushed towards 100 per cent local manufacturing as soon as possible,” Lau said.
OnePlus is investing Rs 1,000 crore over three years to expand its India research and development centre, which will become its largest research facility globally by 2022, as per The Economic Times.
“So (there is) very much a focus on manufacturing, and for our wider IoT ecosystem products, also in the future…looking at where (it is) possible to have our products manufactured locally, and increase the percentage of products that are manufactured locally,” Lau said.
