The OnePlus 8 Pro got sold out within minutes after its sale began via Amazon India on June 18, amid calls for a boycott of Chinese smartphones and goods across India.
OnePlus’ flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 8 Pro was unavailable for purchase on Amazon minutes after the sale started. The demand for the OnePlus 8 Pro has been huge, especially after the company had to delay its product sales due to supply chain issues.
It is, however, surprising to see how the Chinese smartphone went out-of-stock so soon amid the anti-China sentiments over the killing of 20 Indian soldiers on the India-China border.
OnePlus is one of the top Chinese smartphone brands in India that is now placing its bet in the premium category. Chinese smartphone players currently dominate the Indian market with over 70 percent market share.
With no ‘Made in India’ smartphones available, Indians have very few alternatives to Chinese smartphones. It was recently reported that despite the ongoing protests against Chinese smartphones, there has been no impact on the sales front.
Meanwhile, Chinese smartphone makers are also tweaking their strategy to project products as Indian brands. Techno has decided to highlight Made-in-India in our packaging more prominently. Vivo India already ships its smartphones with a Made in India badge on the box.
On social media, too, Chinese smartphone brands have been vocal about being local. Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth went ahead and called Realme an Indian startup which is now a global multinational company. The likes of Xiaomi and Poco have also been lately promoting their India-first approach and the set of features and products they launch in the country.
Indian smartphone brand Micromax is making an attempt to cash-in on the opportunity and has confirmed to make a comeback with three new budget smartphones under Rs 10,000.
