As early as February, Indians can expect to start buying the first 5G device, albeit at premium prices, as yet another Chinese handset maker, iQOO, has announced its plans to enter India with the launch of its 5G phone. iQOO, which debuted as a sub-brand of Vivo back in February last year, will now operate as a separate entity in the country and will be a part of Chinese behemoth BBK Group, the parent company of four brands — OnePlus, Vivo, OPPO and Realme.
iQOO will launch 5G and 4G variants of its latest premium smartphone featuring high-end features, which will compete directly in the burgeoning premium category. The first device from iQOO, the firm said, will be India’s first smartphone running on the latest Snapdragon 865 processor with 5G capabilities. The device will also be backed by robust performance capabilities in gaming, providing phone phonetics and uninterrupted content.
“We see extreme potential in the premium segment smartphone market in India and have deep-dived to understand the gap that consumers face in this segment,” said Gagan Arora, marketing director, iQOO. The company aims to sell about one million devices in next one year. The brand now has a team of 80 members who will run its operations from Bengaluru and offer after-sales services, separate from what has been so far provided by Vivo.
“On day one of the launch, given that it was a premium device and China is more a premium market, we were able to sell more than 2 lakh devices on day one… So, with that kind of reception, it tells us that iQOO has the potential to become a global brand. India will be the first market outside China,” said Arora. iQOO, which stands for ‘I Quest On and On’, will sell its device online initially, and is drawing out plans for offline retail. For manufacturing,
Arora said iQOO will share Vivo’s facilities at Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Experts said Vivo’s strategy to distinguish iQOO is seen as a move similar to that of Xiaomi, who had recently announced distinguishing Poco from its Redmi and Mi brands. The move comes when the government has planned to auction 5G spectrum only in the April-June quarter of FY 2021. Research firm TechArc also expects that 15-18 models (excluding variants) will be introduced in India this year in the premium or luxe categories (priced above `30,000) to start with. However, full-fledged sales of 5G phones will pick up only in 2021 when they become affordable. TechArc estimates 1.5 million 5G phones will be sold in India in 2020, about 1 per cent of India’s overall smartphone sales.