Vivo to launch first Snapdragon 865-powered smartphone in India under iQoo brand

In 2019, the mid-range smartphone market in India (under Rs 20,000), turned out to be the most competitive space. However, 2020 seems like the year of the ‘flagship killer’ in India. After Poco recently confirmed that it would spin off Xiaomi, Vivo also joined the emerging trend of ‘betting on sub-brands’ by announcing iQoo’s entry in India.

iQoo brand, owned by Vivo, was previously only limited to Chinese markets. However, iQoo India Marketing Director Gagan Arora confirmed that it would launch a 5G smartphone in India as early as February.

Arora also made a bold claim that the Vivo-owned brand would be the first to launch a smartphone with the Snapdragon 865 SoC in the country. He also said the upcoming flagship would offer “best-in-class” technology in terms of battery and 5G connectivity. Additionally, the first iQoo branded smartphone in India will run on Android 10 with a new skin, different from Vivo’s Funtouch OS.

In China, Vivo’s iQoo brand focuses heavily on delivering devices that deliver a great gaming and photography experience. However, in India, the brand will lean towards offering a premium experience across the board.  Gagan asserted; “The interface will be developed for India. So, as a part of our strategy, the interface has to be localised to a certain extent.”

iQoo will operate as an independent brand in India, only sharing Vivo’s manufacturing facility. In China, Vivo’s past iQoo smartphones have primarily focused on performance with special features targeted towards gamers. The top-tier iQoo handsets in China competes against the likes of the OnePlus 7T, Asus ROG Phone II, Oppo Reno 10x Zoom Edition and other similarly priced devices.

Arora also added that the plan was to take the iQoo brand global with India as a starting point. The launch of the first Snapdragon 865 iQoo handset in February will be a global launch.