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OnePlus Widens Footprint in India

OnePlus emerged as the top brand in India within the price segment of mid to high end range…reports Asian Lite News

India continues to be an important market for global technology brand OnePlus and the company aims to operate with approximately 50,000 mainline retailer stores in the country in 2024, a top company executive said on Wednesday.

OnePlus, which has just launched its flagship 12 series which offers a significant advancement from its predecessor across performance, display innovation, charging capabilities, camera technology, and design aesthetics, will certainly look forward to bringing more positive investments this year, to further benefit its India community, Ranjeet Singh, Director of Sales, OnePlus India, told IANS.

“This year, we are excited to bring in renewed focus towards our retail strategy. OnePlus is looking to increase investments across mainline channel by two folds in 2024. And we look forward to expanding our mainline presence by opening 200+ new OnePlus Experience stores across India in 2024,” Singh informed.

The OnePlus 12 will arrive in two colour variants — Flowy Emerald and Silky Black. The 12GB+256GB option is priced at Rs 64,999 and the 16GB+512GB option is priced at Rs 69,999 and will be available for purchase starting January 30.

Moreover, the company launched the OnePlus 12R in two colours — Cool Blue or Iron Gray. The 8GB+128 GB option is priced at Rs 39,999 and the 16GB+256 GB option is priced at Rs 45,999. The OnePlus 12R will be available for purchase starting February 6.

At the core of OnePlus 12 5G is the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform, supported by the proprietary Trinity Engine, and up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM with 512GB UFS 4.0 ROM.

“The design, inspired by luxurious timepieces and the beauty of nature that surrounds us, reflects a harmonious blend of technology and aesthetic appeal. The 4th Gen Hasselblad camera system has something for just about everyone; we’ve also enhanced our Pro Mode to create Master Mode for the experimental or for professionals,” Singh told IANS.

The company ventured into the foldable segment last year and introduced the OnePlus Open.

“We went on to witness an incredible response from our India community. And the OnePlus Open device emerged as the highest selling foldable smartphone device on the first day of sale at Reliance Digital,” according to Singh.

Similarly, it also emerged as the highest sold foldable smartphone on Amazon.in on its open sale day in Rs 1 lakh price segment (January 2023-October 27 2023).

“We also ventured into a brand-new segment of tablets with our OnePlus Pad and Pad Go, both of which also saw remarkable response from our consumers across India,” Singh told IANS.

OnePlus emerged as the top brand in India within the price segment of $400-$600 (mid to high end range), according to the IDC.

Additionally, OnePlus 11/11R led the mid to high end price segment ($400-$600) in January-November 2023 period in terms of shipments.

“We also emerged as the fastest growing brand among top 10 smartphone brands in Jan-Nov 2023 with YoY growth of over 50 per cent (as per IDC),” Singh noted.

With the launch of the OnePlus 12 Series, the company is thrilled to embrace its “Never Settle” mantra once again, redefining flagship technology.

“And we are confident that our community is going to love what’s in store for them,” Singh added.

In line with its earlier commitment, OnePlus continues to increase market penetration with expansion into tier 2 and 3 markets in 2024.

“With our retail expansion, we want to give our wider community base in India a chance to gain first-hand premium experience of our products as well as the OnePlus connected ecosystem,” Singh told IANS.

As a brand, OnePlus has always listened to its community and their feedback on its products.

“2024 will be no different, as we will continue to keep our community’s interest at the heart of our efforts. We will continue to deliver on our promise to provide high-quality products with superior performance and burdenless technology,” he mentioned.

As a user-centric brand, “we will continue to invest in bringing in top-notch, meaningful technology to our consumers in India. And we will continue diversifying our product portfolio to meet the diverse needs of our growing user base,” Singh further said.

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OnePlus’ ‘Unfolded’ Triumph

OnePlus Open has emerged as the highest selling foldable smartphone on Amazon.in on its open sale day in more than Rs 1 lakh price segment in 2023…reports Asian Lite News

OnePlus Open, the flagship foldable device from global consumer electronics brand OnePlus, has achieved robust sales across multiple channels on its open sale day, emerged as the highest-selling foldable smartphone on the first day of its sale, the company said on Wednesday.

OnePlus Open became the highest selling foldable smartphone device on the first day of sale at Reliance Digital.

Furthermore, OnePlus Open has emerged as the highest selling foldable smartphone on Amazon.in on its open sale day in more than Rs 1 lakh price segment in 2023.

“With the launch of the OnePlus Open, we once again embraced our ‘Never Settle’ spirit, while challenging the industry conventions. Bringing in a fresh foldable form factor, the OnePlus Open features a modern elegant standout design, dual ProXDR displays, multi-window efficiency with Open Canvas, and much more,” a company spokesperson told IANS.

“We are confident that the OnePlus Open will continue to exceed the premium expectations of our India community, bringing unparalleled hardware and software features, along with top-notch user experience,” the spokesperson added.

OnePlus Open has been certified for reliable folding by international certification institute in TUV Rheinland where it was put through extreme environmental tests and 1,000,000 test-folds that amounts to way more than 100 folds per day, lasting for over 10 years!

It means it can be opened 1 million times at ease sans any issue. The key to this exceptional longevity is the single-spine hinge architecture.

The company said that it has witnessed exceptional performance so far, leading it to become the fastest-growing smartphone brand in the first half of 2023, with YoY growth exceeding 70 per cent (according to a recent IDC report).

“Our smartphones continue to receive very positive response from our customers. We emerged as the market leader in $400-$600 (mid to high-end) price segment in India during H1 2023, commanding a substantial 40.6 per cent share in terms of shipments,” said the company.

The flagship devices, OnePlus 11 and OnePlus 11R, jointly led the mid to high-end price segment ($400-$600) in H1 2023, accounting for a quarter of shipments in the Indian market for this segment, according to the IDC report.

“Our growth is backed by our sales and validated by industry reports which show progress and dedication to our customers. We also ventured into the tablet category this year, and emerged among the top three brands in the tablet market in mid premium segment for Q2 2023,” said OnePlus.

OnePlus Pad has also captured 34.5 per cent of shipments in the mid-premium ($350-$400) price segment (excluding GST) in the Indian tablet market during Q2 2023.

“We hope to continue witnessing this positive growth. And we remain committed to the India market by continuing to bring in the best of our OnePlus technology to our India community,” the company noted.

OnePlus said that it has always listened to the community and their feedback on our products.

“We strive to deliver our promise to provide high-quality products with incredible performance and burdenless user experience to our community. We will continue to diversify and invest in the expansion of our product portfolio to meet the diverse needs of our users,” the company added.

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OnePlus India CEO Navnit Nakra quits

Nakra spearheaded the company’s business operations and overall strategy for the India region…reports Asian Lite News

Navnit Nakra, CEO of OnePlus India, has moved on from the global technology brand to follow his passion, the company confirmed on Wednesday.

In 2021, the smartphone maker announced the elevation of Nakra, then Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Sales in India, as its India CEO and Head of the OnePlus India region.

In a statement shared with IANS, the company thanked Nakra for his contribution towards OnePlus India.

“He has played an instrumental role in managing the India business over the last three years and wish him best of luck for his future endeavours,” the company said in the statement.

“OnePlus is committed towards India as a region and our Community members. We will continue to strengthen our focus in India,” the company added.

In a letter sent by Nakra to the OnePlus community, accessed by IANS, he said that after much thought, “I have decided to move on from OnePlus. I intend to follow my passion and spend some quality time with my family.”

“It has been a pleasure to have been a part of our amazing Community — even though I am no longer a part of the business team, I hope you all would give me the privilege of being a part of the OnePlus Community,” Nakra added.

Nakra spearheaded the company’s business operations and overall strategy for the India region.

His journey with OnePlus India began in February 2020 as the Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, wherein he drove the corporate strategy plans as well as key strategic partnerships.

He went on to also oversee the sales operations of the company in the region.

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Business

Reliance Jio, OnePlus join hands for ‘True 5G’ ecosystem

As part of the collaboration, all the OnePlus 5G devices will be powered by Jio ‘True 5G’ technology…reports Asian Lite News

Reliance Jio on Monday collaborated with global technology brand OnePlus to bring in the evolutionary stand-alone 5G technology ecosystem in the country.

As part of the collaboration, all the OnePlus 5G devices will be powered by Jio ‘True 5G’ technology.

The Jio and OnePlus teams have been actively working together at the backend to make 5G technology more accessible to the consumers and continue to expand their 5G technology services across the product portfolio.

“The real power of a 5G smartphone can only be unleashed by a True 5G network like Jio, that is built as a Standalone 5G network, the most advanced network of its kind. Jio True 5G will enable hundreds of new and powerful experiences that can be experienced on a leading device like OnePlus,” said Sunil Dutt, President, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.

OnePlus devices with access to the Jio True 5G network include the latest OnePlus 10 Series, OnePlus 9R, OnePlus 8 Series as well as the Nord, Nord 2T, Nord 2, Nord CE, Nord CE 2 and Nord CE 2 Lite.

Similarly, OnePlus 9 Pro, OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9RT will also have access to the Jio True 5G network shortly, said the company.

“With 5G technology, users will enjoy a truly seamless, speedy internet experience, while achieving a lot more from their daily use of smartphones than they could possibly imagine,” said Navnit Nakra, OnePlus India CEO and Head of India region.

Consumers can get cashback benefits worth Rs 10,800 which will be provided for eligible OnePlus and Jio 5G users during the OnePlus anniversary sale period from December 13-December 18.

OnePlus led the 5G smartphone market in the affordable premium segment (Rs 30,000-Rs 45,000) as well as Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000 price segment in India.

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Business

OPPO, OnePlus stop smartphone sales in Germany

Nokia had accused the companies of using its patented technology for processing 4G and 5G signals without paying for a license…reports Asian Lite News

Global smartphone makers OPPO and its subsidiary OnePlus have stopped sales of smartphones and smartwatches in Germany after they lost a patent lawsuit against Finnish telecom player Nokia.

Nokia had accused the companies of using its patented technology for processing 4G and 5G signals without paying for a license.

Nokia won an injunction to halt sales in a German court last week.

The companies told The Verge on Tuesday that that the company halted sales in Germany, blaming “Nokia’s demand for an unreasonably high fee” for patents as the reason for the lawsuit.

“We are actively working with the relevant parties to resolve the ongoing legal matter,” a OnePlus spokesperson said in a statement.

“OnePlus remains committed to the German market and will continue our operations. Meanwhile, OnePlus users in Germany can continue to enjoy our products and related services such as regular software updates and our after-sales service as before,” the spokesperson said.

An OPPO spokesperson told European patent news site JUVE Patent that as the owner of many 5G patents, “OPPO respects the value of intellectual property in innovation to a particularly high degree”.

“The day after the 4G agreement between OPPO and Nokia expired, Nokia immediately went to court. They had previously demanded an unreasonably high contract renewal fee,” the company spokesperson added.

The Europe smartphone market declined by 11 per cent (on-year) and 13 per cent (on-quarter) to 40 million units in Q2 this year, the lowest since Q2 2020.

Xiaomi and OPPO, hit by China lockdowns, suffered double digit YoY declines in their respective shipments, according to Counterpoint Research.

realme continued its European expansion with double digit YoY shipment growth in Q2.

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