Chinese OEM OnePlus has announced plans to open its first Research and Development centre in India, showcasing the growing importance of India as a market for the company. Despite inching towards premium segment pricing with every phone release, OnePlus has been finding increasing success in the country.
The R&D facility will be located in Hyderabad, and will play a critical role in the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning software for OnePlus products, as well as drive local innovations geared towards the Indian community. India is currently one of the biggest markets for OnePlus, notwithstanding the fact that the company has largely shed its affordable flagship tag.
OnePlus has chosen Hyderabad since the city offers a sizeable talent pool, especially in the area of emerging technologies. The city of Hyderabad is also one of their fastest growing markets within India. OnePlus also plans to grow the Hyderabad facility into the biggest R&D facility for the company. OnePlus also plans to open a OnePlus Experience Store in the city too, which will co-exist alongside the Exclusive Service Centre in the city.
“In three years, we plan to grow the new R&D centre in Hyderabad into our biggest globally. We plan to re-focus our R&D efforts on a large scale and drive innovations in India for the global product, especially on the software side with a special emphasis on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.”
OnePlus also plans to initiate a campus hiring program at a number of Indian universities, including the top-tier IIT Mumbai and IIT Delhi, this year.
According to reports from IDC, OnePlus held a 40% share in the Indian market for Q2 2018. This outperforms majors like Apple and Samsung, who established a share of 15% and 34% respectively. The OnePlus 6T has been received very well in markets like North America, although data for its market reception in the Indian subcontinent remains undisclosed for now. OnePlus is also gearing up to launch a McLaren Special Edition of the OnePlus 6T. Keeping in mind the past performance of the OnePlus 6 and the brand goodwill and reputation that OnePlus has managed to build for itself, we wouldn’t be surprised if the OnePlus 6T outperforms previous OnePlus flagships in India as well.
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