OnePlus TV would be manufactured in India by 2020, a threat to Xiaomi?

Chinese consumer electronics brand OnePlus hopes to start its TV manufacturing unit in India by early next year. OnePlus announced its debut in India's Smart TV market during its event in New Delhi on Thursday evening.

“After thoughtful consideration and long soul searching, we believe that we want to provide ecosystem products for the future and our first product beyond smartphone should be TV,” OnePlus CEO Pete Lau told Republic World.

OnePlus TV line-up goes official in India, starts at Rs 69,990

OnePlus TVs will compete with those from brands such as Samsung, LG and Sony in the premium Smart TV category in India. OnePlus TV line-up comprises two models - OnePlus TV Q1 and OnePlus TV Q1 Pro. OnePlus TV Q1 costs Rs 69,900 whereas the Q1 Pro comes at the price of Rs 99,990. Both OnePlus TV models will be up for grabs starting September 28.

Currently, India is the only market where OnePlus is bringing its smart TV sets.

"India is the first market where we are launching our smart TVs. The first batch will come from China but we hope to start manufacturing in India by end of the year or early next year," OnePlus CEO Pete Lau said on the sidelines of the launch.

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Lau added that discussions are currently on for partnering an OEM for local manufacturing. He said OnePlus would take the TV sets to other markets as well but the launch dates have been confirmed yet.

OnePlus TVs to compete with Xiaomi's

Several smartphone players like as Xiaomi Motorola and Micromax also have smart TVs in their product portfolio. Xiaomi started selling smart TVs in India last year and it offers models in various screen sizes ranging from 32-inches to 55-inches. As per the IDC data, Xiaomi secured a 39 per cent of share during Q1 2019 India's smart TV segment. LG had a 15 per cent of share, while Sony and Samsung had 14 per cent and 12 per cent of share, respectively, during the same period.

The Android TV platform powers OnePlus TV. There's a smart remote controller that can be charged a C-type charger. It sports a 55-inch 4K QLED display and 50W speakers with Dolby Atmos sound.

(With PTI inputs)