Chinese smartphone manufacturers have occupied 70% of the Indian market, with some having established manufacturing bases in India and even exported Indian-made Chinese-brand mobile phones to the international market.
India's leading high-end smartphone manufacturer, OnePlus, has started exporting 5G smartphones from India on a trial basis, according to a report by Tencent Tech.
This development has helped India's efforts to boost local production and exports at a time when India lags behind many other competitors in deploying next-generation mobile communications technology.
OnePlus is one of the first companies to launch 5G equipment in the global market. In addition to Indian operators, it is also testing the compatibility of smartphones with US and European carrier networks at its research and development center in Hyderabad, southern India.
"In five years, India will quickly become the regional headquarters for OnePlus 'expansion into the global market," said Vikas Agarwal, head of OnePlus' India operations. "As part of India's business focus in the coming years, OnePlus is building India as the brand's global export hub and is already manufacturing 5G smartphones for export to overseas markets such as North America. "
The company co-invested with Chinese rival OPPO to build a smartphone manufacturing plant in Noida, India, to produce 5G equipment.
Both smartphone makers are part of China's BBK Electronics Group.
"We are currently sharing some co-investments in manufacturing with OPPO," Angowa said.
OPPO did not comment on the news of co-production of smartphones. It is reported that OPPO produced 4G smartphones for OnePlus in the past.
India still has a long way to go before the deployment of 5G communication networks. 5G trials have not yet begun and spectrum has not yet been auctioned off.
Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson said that India's 5G network will not be commercially available until 2022, compared with the previous estimate of 2020.
The Indian telecommunications industry organization COAI estimates that the country's commercial 5G network will need to wait at least five years due to the high price of 5G base stations and insufficient radio spectrum.
In contrast, leading communications service providers in Asia, Australia, Europe, West Asia and North America opened 5G networks earlier this year. Since its release in April 2019, South Korea has already had a large number of 5G users, and the latest statistics are 4 million. China launched 5G in late October and is expected to reach 13 million 5G users by the end of 2019.
Faisal Kawoosa, co-founder of technology market research firm TechArc, said that OnePlus launched the timely production of 5G equipment in India in the global 5G ecosystem and exported it to the world. The promise of such a brand is that India's position in the global business of OnePlus is important, not just the market for mobile phones.
As of September, OnePlus has gained 35% market share in the Indian high-end mobile phone market. The company considers India to be a key market for testing future technologies, including 5G, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
In terms of 5G, the company has set up a 5G simulator in its research and development center in Hyderabad, where it explores 5G cloud computing solutions.
"We are also conducting test trials with leading ecosystem participants and operator partners, including Airtel and Reliance Jio, and are actively investing in the construction of 5G network simulators in R & D centers in India." An executive at OnePlus India R & D Center Means.
The R & D center is also developing customized 5G smartphones, not only for the Indian market, but also for other markets such as North America and Europe.
According to the third quarter smart phone market report from technology market research firm IDC, in India, Chinese companies have achieved 70% of the share, of which Xiaomi ranks first with a 27.1% market share. Vivo, Realme and OPPO also each have more than 10% of the market share, Samsung Electronics ranked second in India, with a market share of nearly 20%.
OnePlus's focus in India is mainly on the mid-to-high-end smartphone market, and its total sales have not yet entered the top five in the Indian market.
