The Life Cycle Of Our Phones Is Longer For Indian Users

OnePlus founder Pete Lau talks about ensuring a ‘burdenless’ product for users and the brand’s focus on quality.

- Rajiv Singh

OnePlus founder Pete Lau talks in Chinese, but has a fluent understanding of what, how and why Indians buy. “When it comes to upgrading, Indians give their older phones to their family members. This is one of the reasons I see so many family members using OnePlus,” he tells Forbes India. Lau was in India in August to open the Shenzhen-headquartered premium smartphone maker’s first research and development (R&D) centre in India, in Hyderabad. While OnePlus intends to grow the Hyderabad facility into its biggest R&D centre globally—it has five other such centres in places such as Taiwan, Shanghai and Shenzhen— with an investment of `1,000 crore, it has already made deep inroads into India by capturing its highest ever shipment share of 43 percent in the second quarter this year, according to a report by Counterpoint. A large part of its success can be attributed to its understanding of the Indian market. “The Indian market will get bigger. OnePlus has pushed the growth of the premium segment in the Indian smartphone industry,” says Lau. No wonder, in terms of size, China and India are similar. “In terms of revenue, they are pretty close,” he adds. From watching the Aamir Khan-starrer Dangal (dubbed in Chinese), to his take on why smartphone makers are getting into the TV segment, and how North America is turning out to be a crucial market for the Chinese player, Lau talks on a wide range of topics. Edited excerpts:

On choosing Hyderabad as its R&D centre