China’s Oppo Electronics pledges HK$115m towards handset factory in India
Oppo becomes the latest mainland tech company to unveil investment in world’s second-largest smartphone market
China’s mobile phone industry is set to deepen its ties with India as Oppo Electronics invests HK$115 million to build a new factory in the northern city of Greater Noida, marking the latest major investment by a mainland supplier in the world’s second-largest smartphone market.
That initiative followed similar smartphone manufacturing investments in India made by computer giant Lenovo Group and high-flying Chinese technology start-up Xiaomi in the past year.
With a rapidly growing economy and a relatively lower penetration rate for smartphones, India has attracted major Chinese mobile phone suppliers beset by slow growth in their home market.
India is now the fastest-growing and second-largest smartphone market in the world, according to research firm Counterpoint Research. It predicted more than a billion smartphones will be sold in India over the next five years.
“In five years’ time, the Indian market will be as big as the current mainland Chinese market for Oppo,” Sky Li, the managing director of Oppo’s international mobile business, said.
