OnePlus plans to expand its offline presence in India
OnePlus, which entered India back in December 2014, is now looking to expand its offline operations in 10 cities by the end of this year. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has established itself primarily as an online-only brand and continues to sell its devices via online sales partner (Amazon India) and its own portal. Here's more on this development.
OnePlus plans to open stores in 10 Indian cities
"We will continue to focus on these two portals as our primary sales channels, but, going forward, we will be going offline in the top 10 cities where we are looking forward to opening our own stores," Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, OnePlus India, told IANS.
OnePlus to open brand stores and service centres
OnePlus opened its first "experience store" in Bengaluru last year and now plans to expand in metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai by the end of 2018. OnePlus is also focusing to increase its presence at e-retailer Croma by entering into all its 100 stores across various Indian cities. Moreover, with 10 service centres, the company looks to expand its service network as well.
OnePlus had an exceptional 2017
In 2017, OnePlus grew by a stunning 1,116% in the premium smartphone segment. According to International Data Corporation, the Chinese smartphone maker captured 47.3% of the premium smartphone market share and shipped 287,000 devices in Q4 2017. "We are almost as big as Apple in India now, which is currently the market leader in the premium segment," said Vikas Agarwal, GM, OnePlus India.
OnePlus working to offer enterprise-grade security on its smartphones
While OnePlus is yet to introduce its first smartphone of 2018, it is official that the phone will feature a notch. Further, the company believes that enterprise-grade security will be a trend and is already working towards it. "We have a 'files safety' feature (LockBox) which makes the files in your device secure and this is something which, I feel, would gain traction," said Agarwal.
