Oppo to Make India a Global Export Hub, Aims to Double Local Production

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo which is currently producing close to 50 million units and aims to double the capacity to 100 million units by 2020 will make India a global export hub, Sumit Walia, Vice President, Product and Marketing, Oppo India said on Tuesday.

Doubling the capacity will give employment to nearly 15,000 people, Walia told IANS, as he prepared to launch 5x hybrid zoom-powered Oppo Reno 2 with 20x digital zoom capability in a quad-camera set up.

"We are strategically strengthening our presence in India by investing in talent, manufacturing and research and development. We have an ongoing investment of Rs. 2,200 crore in the Greater Noida manufacturing facility and hope to make India a global export hub for Oppo," Walia told IANS in a free-wheeling interview.

A power-packed Oppo Reno 2 would feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G Octa-core processor and the advanced VOOC 3.0 flash charge technology.

The power-packed processor will have a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for better performance.

"VOOC 3.0 has been built at Oppo's Hyderabad R&D centre that charges the smartphone more than 50 percent in less than 30 minutes. We have also introduced the Ultra dark mode and Ultra steady video mode in the device," informed Walia.

Paired with 8GB RAM along with 256GB storage, the 730G octa-core processor in Reno 2 will ensure a powerful gaming experience along with an on-device AI and an intuitive image capture.

Gamers will get a fierce edge with the anti-cheat extensions, optimized Wi-fi and 25 percent faster graphic rendering in comparison to the previous Oppo Reno 10X Zoom.

"Reno 2 is going to be a 'made in India' device. We have aggressive plans for the upcoming festive season to give consumers best options to choose from," Walia told IANS.

"We are looking at diversifying our portfolio and will foray into the smart accessories segment with the launch of 'Enco' Bluetooth Headphones along with India-first Reno 2 series," he informed.

These noise-cancelling wireless headsets will come not only with 15 hours of playback time but also Type C charging port that could provide a playback time of up to 5 hours with just 15 minutes of charging.

Oppo had 9.7 percent market share in the Indian smartphone market in the second quarter (Q2) this year and according to the IDC, the company registered a healthy growth of 41 percent in Q2 because of affordable A series -- A3s and newly-launched A1K and A5s. Online channel accounted for 19.1 percent for Oppo -- driven by online exclusive model "K1".

"We command a very strong presence in the offline market with over 60,000 sales points and over 250 exclusive Oppo stores. We plan to open more 'premium' retail flagship stores following the one in Hyderabad," informed Walia.

"We will also launch Oppo's online shopping site for users in India very soon," he added.

In terms of after-sales service, Oppo had over 500 exclusive service centres in the country.

"We are committed to growing in India and, therefore, will launch 6-7 new devices across all price segments this year," Walia told IANS.