- By Konark Tyagi
- Fri, 06 Dec 2024 07:28 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Chinese electronic giant, OnePlus, has announced an annual investment of Rs 6,000 crore over the next three years to accelerate innovations in products and services in India. This investment plan was launched under the name of "Project Starlight" as a strategic vision for the brand’s future investment in the country. It is one of the largest investments by a Chinese mobile phone manufacturer in India in recent years.
"The Project Starlight is a demonstration of our dedication to going beyond the surface to tackle the challenges faced by our users in their daily lives. From the intense heat and humidity to heavy usage, high screen on-time, and longer replacement cycles of OnePlus users, we recognize the need for our devices and services to serve our users reliably for years to come. India remains a top priority for us globally, and we continue to strive to earn the trust and affection of our Indian community," said Robin Liu, CEO of OnePlus India.
In an exclusive interview with Jagran New Media's Konark Tyagi, Robin Liu dived into details and the significance of the investment that they are putting in under ‘Project Starlight’. He said that the investment was focused on three key areas - making even more durable devices, exceptional customer service, and developing India-specific features.
Talking about the problems customers are facing while using 5G, Liu emphasized the importance of providing meaningful use cases for 5G and AI.
“We believe pushing the latest technology to the end user is not more meaningful so we need to provide some huge cases which are going to impact daily life then only it will be useful. let's take the example of certain things 5G in India people have been talking about 5G couple of years back right still India certain people are still facing seamless connectivity with 5G phones,” said Robin Liu.
Robin pointed out the problems faced by some flagship phones in India and ensure that OnePlus is working on solutions to provide better connectivity and user experience. He said that OnePlus is focusing on 5G Advanced features and optimising software and hardware.
“We come up with the tailor-made solutions for all these problems that's where we come into the picture. Whatever the solution we are coming up with will ensure the person who has OnePlus phone stands out better concerning the connection. From the next OnePlus series, (which are 15 13 launches), there will be a lot of meaningful use cases like this for a 5G,” said Robin Liu.
Liu recognised the increased battery consumption associated with 5G and highlighted OnePlus's investments in battery technology to address this challenge. “To get the cutting edge technologies we are spending a lot on Battery Technology also. Probably you may hear more about it during our launches and how we are effectively making more advancements in battery technologies,” said the CEO.
Breaking down the top three parameters that OnePlus is touching down for the Indian market with ‘Project Starlight’, Robin said, "We are focussing on three areas. I think the first thing is that maybe we will improve our product durability through the Advanced Technologies, second, we will improve our service capabilities because the consumer experience is the most important for us to move forward to be a premium brand. We will also provide tailored solutions based on the consumer."
Liu discussed the green line issue faced by OnePlus and outlines the steps taken to address it, including offering a lifetime warranty, investigating the root cause and strengthening testing standards. Liu expressed confidence in the Indian smartphone market and indicated that OnePlus will focus on the higher-end premium segment in the coming year.
“When we heard from our community or Indian users about the Green line issue, we're not afraid. To address this issue we offered a lifetime warranty for those phones and then extended that warranty to all the phones. OnePlus' way of handling the issue is parallel to what we did in our laboratories and trying to find out what is the exact root cause,” told Robin.
“Even though we just say that it's an industry issue, let's try to find out the solution so we talk to the partners we talk to all our vendors and try to come up with the solution and that solution has been incorporated in our process of project development. It will ensure the upcoming models will not have any green line issues at least,” he said further.
