Now, Oppo too Wants to Open its Own Retail Stores & Manufacturing Units in India

By Abhishek Joshi On Jul 6, 2016

Oppo is very appropriately called the Apple of China, for their innovative smartphones that have distinct hardware features and complimentary software features. The Chinese company has planned to spend 10x more in marketing this fiscal, owing to a healthy 30% growth since October 2015.

However, Oppo still does not have high sales volumes like Xiaomi, OnePlus, LeEco etc and plans to investigate the reasons for it. For long, Oppo has been trying to build its offline network in India, which definitely takes more time than the online channel.

According to a report, Oppo has reached out to Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion(DIPP) for approval to open its own retail stores throughout the country. The Government relaxed the local sourcing norms to give the foreign companies a little time to settle in India before they start local manufacturing.

Interestingly, Oppo has invested Rs. 100 Crores to start its own manufacturing unit in Noida, which will be churning out around 10 Lakh handsets every month. The facility will start operations in August 2016 and will give boost to Oppo’s move from online to offline channel.

Oppo has already been collaborating with Foxconn to build its smartphones locally. The Noida facility is expected to manufacture smartphones specifically for the Indian market, and as it ramps up, Oppo will start exporting the phones to other South Asian countries.

Who is going to benefit?

When Chinese companies invest in India, the manufacturing sector gets to experience the benefits almost instantly. This is because most companies partner with local players or develop their own manufacturing units, that employ people from India.

Oppo plans to open 35,000 retail outlets and 180 service centres in India by this year end. A lot of these stores will employ locals and create jobs for them, which in turn is going to help provide employment to the needy. The manufacturing unit as well will generate employment to a lot of workers.

For Oppo, this development will pave way for higher sales in India and increased production for the growing markets in South Asia. Oppo has always been eyeing the offline route to success, and this finally may open the doors for the company in India.

Full localization of products will also bring down the price of the smartphones, and improve its sales in India. To say the least, Oppo’s F1 and F1 Plus phones focus on photography and come equipped with some really exciting features for Indian users, what most other phones do not offer at that price point.

Here are some of the Make in India Project Announced in last 1 year:

#MakeinIndia local manufacturing Make In India Oppo