OPPO May Open an R&D Centre in Bengaluru

With Oppo planning to invest $7 billion in research and development globally in the next three years, the Chinese smartphone maker is looking to expand R&D centres to cities like Bengaluru, a top company executive said in Shenzhen on Tuesday. The company currently has one R&D centre in Hyderabad and the second centre may come up in Bengaluru.

"We have 6 global institutes and 4 research centres and one of them is in Hyderabad in India. So definitely we are going to be expanding our processes in Hyderabad or possibly in Bangalore to actually invest more in R&D” said Alen Wu, OPPO's Vice President and President of Global Sales.

"In terms of revenue, we are doing good in India. So far in 2019, we have witnessed a growth of over 60 per cent in India and the number will go up by the year end. I'm happy with the performance," Wu told IANS on the sidelines of the company's 'INNO DAY 2019' event.

Oppo founder and CEO Tony Chen announced at the event that the company would invest $7 billion in research and development in the next three years to develop core technologies in hardware, software and system in addition to 5G/6G, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), Big Data and other emerging technologies.

Wu added that India is always significant to the company.

"Lots of work are yet to be done. We're closely monitoring India as we are enhancing our services in the country," Wu added.

In the India smartphone market, Oppo has a share of 11.8 per cent so far in Q3, as per market research firm IDC.

Earlier, Oppo announced the opening of the electronic manufacturing cluster in the Greater Noida region with an investment of Rs 3,500 crore that will have the capability to produce approximately 2 lakh product units daily.

"Oppo has been more than just a phone maker from the outset. In fact, smartphones have simply been a gateway for the company to deliver a diverse portfolio of technological services," Chen said.

"For Oppo and even the entire industry, there won't be any company solely focusing on smartphones," he added.

Oppo also said that it plans to implement three key strategies in order to seize 5G opportunities.

For a start, the company will remain committed to core technology R&D to develop world-leading tech; second, Oppo will build a multi-portal ecosystem of intelligent devices with smartphones serving as the key gateway; and finally, Oppo will continue to rethink user service and optimise its content and service offerings.

"As the importance of convergence between technologies and services becomes essential, Oppo is building an integrated technology model that covers five spheres, namely: equipment, data, computing, services and scenarios," said Levin Liu, Oppo Vice President and Head of Oppo Research Institute.

"The model, in which 5G and AI serve as the infrastructure and our core capacities, integrates all technologies to create an all-around consistent technological experience," he said.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include a revised quote from Alen Wu that has been provided by Oppo.