Investing In Top Talent In India Is Not Cheap

OnePlus founder and CEO Pete Lau on recruiting bright prospects for its R&D centre in the country that is expected to be the smartphone maker’s largest.

- Anshul Dhamija

Pete Lau, founder and CEO of OnePlus, was in India recently, scouting for research talent and office space in the country. India accounts for about one-third of the revenues of the Chinese smartphone maker and is now home to the Shenzhen-based company’s fourth research and development (R&D) centre. While its India R&D team is being bulked up in Hyderabad, Lau is looking to buy office space in Bengaluru, the headquarters of OnePlus in India. “A lot of companies take the route of renting [office space], but we are focussed on the long term, so it makes sense [to invest],” Lau, 43, tells Forbes India in a 40-minute interview. Edited excerpts:

Q What have been the big developments for OnePlus in India over the last six months?

India is still our largest market and China comes second. So, India is as exciting as ever. The last time we met [in May-June], we didn’t have the Q2 and Q3 data. In both the quarters, OnePlus has been the number one [smartphone brand] in the premium segment in India [capturing 40 percent and 30 percent of the said segment market, respectively, according to data from Counterpoint Research].

In terms of growth, we have already achieved our CY18 sales in nine months this year; we are 30 to 35 percent higher compared to last year and at least 50 percent more in absolute business. Both our models, OnePlus 6 and 6T, have done well.

We had two months of no-sale period. The OnePlus 5T was sold out almost 45 days before the 6 was launched. And for about a month, specifically during Diwali, there were no sales as the OnePlus 6 was sold out prior to the launch of 6T. We would have had higher sales if we had enough stock during these two critical phases.