OnePlus reacts to Indian retailers' boycott threat, says working to resolve issues

Retailers alleged struggling due to consistently low-profit margins on OnePlus products, coupled with rising operational and financial costs

OnePlus said it is working with retail chain partners to resolve ongoing issues such as narrow profit margins, claim processing delays, and bundling.

The comments come a week after 23 retail chains in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Gujarat threatened to discontinue sales of OnePlus products starting May 1 due to unresolved issues regarding narrow profit margins, delays in claim processing, and bundling.

“OnePlus values all the support it has received from our trusted retail partners in the last 7 years. At present, we are working with our partners to address the areas highlighted, ensuring our continued commitment to a strong and prosperous relationship going forward,” OnePlus India said in a statement.

OnePlus is a sub-brand of China’s Oppo.

South Indian Organised Retailers Association (ORA), in its April 10 letter to OnePlus India’s director of sales, Ranjeet Singh, threatened to discontinue the sale the brand’s products in 4,500 stores across Southern and Western states.

ORA, the registered association of Organized Retail Chains in India, has 23 members, including Poorvika, Sangeetha, Big C, and Pooja in the Southern and Western regions.

“Throughout the past year, we have encountered significant obstacles associated with selling OnePlus products, which remain unresolved. As esteemed partners, we had hoped for a more fruitful collaboration with OnePlus. Regrettably, the ongoing issues have left us with no alternative but to discontinue the sale of your products in our stores,” Sridhar TS, president of South Indian Organised Retailers Association (ORA), said the letter.

Retailers alleged struggling due to consistently low-profit margins on OnePlus products, coupled with rising operational and financial costs. They also cited delays and complications in processing warranty and service claims, leading to customer dissatisfaction.

Additionally, they claimed that model-specific bundling requirements were causing them to carry non-moving products, further impacting their already slim margins and resulting in unsustainable losses.

In February, retailers alleged the unauthorised diversion of products from e-commerce to retail channels disrupts fund rotation and denies the exchequer the opportunity to benefit from added rotational GST.