OnePlus to start its largest experience centre in Hyderabad

OnePlus the Premium smartphone maker on Tuesday told it is aggressively expanding its retail business in India and to set up its largest experience centre in Hyderabad. The firm already has experience centres in Bengaluru, Chennai and Delhi.

The Chinese company launched the latest generation of its smartphones OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro recently priced Rs 32,999 onwards.

"This year, we are going to open three new experience stores … We will open an experience store in Pune … and Hyderabad which will be the World's biggest OnePlus store with a space of 16,000 sq ft," OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei said.

We are excited to announce that we will be opening the biggest OnePlus store in the World later this year in Hyderabad. #OnePlus7SeriesLaunch pic.twitter.com/oxFoKghgcc

— OnePlus India (@OnePlus_IN) May 14, 2019

Xiaomi, OnePlus and Motorola started their operations in India through e-commerce platforms and, ultimately, they also expanded to the offline route.

India is a key market for OnePlus and represents an important part of the company's revenue last year. OnePlus has previously stated that India will become the "second home ground" for the Chinese smartphone manufacturer.

As per Counterpoint Research, in January-March 2019 quarter Samsung had a 44 per cent share of the premium smartphone market (Rs 30,000 and up) in India. In that quarter OnePlus had a 26 per cent share and Apple had a 19 per cent share in that quarter.

The category is expected to grow 30 per cent this year in India, the report adds.

In March of this year, Samsung introduced three devices: Galaxy S10 +, S10 and S10e, as part of its flagship Galaxy S series, whose price was between Rs 55.900-1.18 lakh in India. Samsung is still confident in continuing its dominance in the premium category.

"We have a strong set of Galaxy S devices and the A80 will soon be available. We see absolutely no relenting on our momentum and are looking at further strengthening. We will continue to be the leaders in the premium category," Samsung India Senior Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer Ranjivjit Singh had told PTI.

The Rival Apple models of iPhone XR and XS have a price of Rs 76,900 and Rs 99,900, respectively. Huawei also increased its initial bet in the segment with the introduction of P30 for Rs 71,990, while Google, which presented its latest Pixel 3a and 3a XL for Rs 39,999 onwards, will begin to be distributed starting on Wednesday.

OnePlus 7 will have a price of Rs 32,999 (6GB RAM) and Rs 37,999 (8GB RAM). The OnePlus 7 Pro will be available in three variants of 6GB, 8GB and 12GB at a price between Rs 48,999-57,999.

The OnePlus 7 Pro has a 6.67-inch screen, is equipped with a triple-lens rear camera configuration (48MP + 16MP + 8MP) and has a 4,000 mAh battery.