HYDERABAD: Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus will invest Rs 1,000 crores in its Research and Development (R&D) centre in Hyderabad, and employ up to 1,500 people within the next three years, the firm’s founder and CEO Pete Lau said on Monday.
The company will also expand its handset-manufacturing facility in Noida and start exporting India-manufactured phones by the end of this year, he added. Lau was in Hyderabad for the inauguration of the R&D centre at Nanakramguda, which already employs around 200 engineers.
TRS working president KT Rama Rao, who was present for the inauguration, suggested that Lau consider Hyderabad for establishing the handset-manufacturing facility as well. Lau later told the media he would like to consider the proposal.
He said the company will open more service centres in India, and launch its first OnePlus experience store in Hyderabad at Himayatnagar. The Hyderabad R&D facility will not just be a support centre, but will work on innovative applications, Lau said, adding that it will incorporate a 5G technology lab with an investment of Rs 100 crore, a camera lab to develop and customise the camera experience, and an automation lab, to understand how devices age over time using AI.
Lau said the 5G technology lab would play an important role in supporting 5G devices and rolling them out in India in the near future. A field-testing environment for 5G devices will also be set up at the facility.
However, Lau added that getting the right talent to work at the labs, especially the camera and 5G technology ones, will be difficult in India due to insufficient exposure to these fields among engineers here.
To be made like Shenzhen facility
OnePlus has five R&D centres across the world, with its largest one in Shenzhen, China. Lau said the Hyderabad facility will play an important role as it will be developed on a par with the Shenzhen facility, to reflect the fact that one-third of the company’s market share is in India. The first OnePlus experience store in Hyderabad will come up at Himayatnagar