New Economy Forum
OnePlus Shows Apple How to Become India's Top Smartphone Seller
Pete Lau at the launch of the OnePlus 5 handset in 2017.
Photographer: Punit Paranjpe/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
India is arguably the world’s toughest smartphone market — just ask Apple. Yet Chinese manufacturer OnePlus has found a path to success in the country of 1.3 billion.
As Pete Lau, OnePlus’s co-founder and chief executive officer, describes it, OnePlus targeted younger users with stylish and affordable Android-based phones. Rather than plastering shops with ads, student ambassadors promote the Shenzhen-based company’s products. OnePlus also sponsors cricket games, breaking a no-advertising pledge it has in other places.