OnePlus begins exporting 'Made In India' smartphones worldwide

Smartphone manufacturer OnePlus has announced that it has started export of Indian manufactured handsets to foreign markets including North America. 

Looking to hedge its risks considering the recent US-China trade disputes, the Chinese company is looking to expand its manufacturing in India. It has set up additional assembly lines for its new flagship One Plus 7 pro smartphones which will be exported to western markets.

The announcement comes days after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a bonanza of tax cuts for corporates with effective rates going down from 30% to 22%. To push the 'Make In India' initiative, the tax rates for new manufacturing companies will be even lower at 15%. 

The move has caught the attention of several multinational manufacturing companies who are evaluating setting up operations in India. 

OnePlus has been focussing on the Indian market, and as per co-founder Carl Pie, it is considering making the country its manufacturing hub after evaluating the available manufacturing quality at sustainable costs. 

The Shenzen based company currently gets most of its manufacturing operations done in China through its parent entity BBK electronics. Notably, BBK owns other smartphone brands such as Realme, Oppo, Vivo apart from OnePlus. 

While Vivo and Oppo have been battling with another Chinese giant Xiaomi, OnePlus has cemented itself as the leading premium smartphone in India.

It has captured the market share of Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy range of products by offering high-quality hardware with near-stock Android experience.

Earlier this month, OnePlus launched its India exclusive OnePlus TV taking on its arch-rival Xiaomi which has its line of smart televisions in India. Further, OnePlus announced that it will invest up to Rs 1,000 crores in India in the next three years including plans to set up an R&D facility in Hyderabad.

Apart from the manufacturing facility, the company has implemented a different approach with its supply chain in India. While most of its sales worldwide are generated through purely online sales, it has set up an India-specific offline retail channel to boost sales in tier II and tier III cities. 

On the lines of Apple, the company has also been working towards monetizing the premium handset user base via services.

During the launch of its latest offering - OnePlus 7T, the company also announced launching OnePlus Pay and OnePlus Cloud. OnePlus Pay will be a wallet on the similar lines on Samsung Pay and will facilitate contactless transaction directly from the smartphone. 

ET first reported the development.