Technology

IIE DIGITAL DESK : OPPO’s product strategy team says the company’s ascent in India’s mid-premium segment is less accidental and more the result of deliberate product choices married to a deep offline presence, a combination that has helped the brand scale quickly in smaller cities and towns. Peter Dohyung Lee, Head of Product Strategy at OPPO, told reporters that the K series has become one of the company’s fastest-growing portfolios in India, with the K-series posting 56 percent growth in 2025 compared with 42 percent in 2024 — a trajectory the company credits to product innovation together with an extensive service and retail network.

At the centre of OPPO’s mid-premium push is the newly launched K13 Turbo, a handset that packages features usually reserved for flagship phones into a price point aimed at younger, performance-hungry buyers. The device emphasises gaming and endurance: OPPO highlights an active cooling fan and a graphite vapour chamber inside a “Storm Engine” cooling system, a very large 7,000 mAh battery, 120Hz AMOLED display, stereo sound and an AI-enhanced 50MP OIS camera — specifications the company believes will resonate with users who prioritise sustained performance over a long runtime. 

Lee explained that the product and channel strategy was deliberately aligned to target Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets, where demand for powerful, value-for-money 5G phones is rising. He pointed to states such as Gujarat, Bihar, West Bengal and Karnataka as key growth territories where a blend of localised marketing, service availability and a robust offline distribution network has amplified adoption. OPPO stresses that strong retail and after-sales footprints make it easier for consumers in smaller towns to choose mid-premium models with confidence. 

Beyond hardware, OPPO’s public framing is that the mid-premium segment should not be seen as competing with the mass market but as complementary to it: by pushing core technologies such as 5G, large batteries and smooth long-term performance down the price ladder, the company says it can broaden its addressable market while still differentiating in the mid tier through cooling innovations, higher-end processors and premium displays. OPPO also referenced past commercial successes — earlier K models that crossed multi-million unit milestones and rapid sell-outs on e-commerce flash sales — to underline how the strategy has translated into volumes. 

Analysts watching India’s smartphone market say the playbook of combining sought-after flagship features with an offline push fits broader market realities: many Indian buyers still prefer to see and service devices in person before purchase, and local retail partners often drive post-sales trust. For OPPO, the K13 Turbo is both a product statement and a test of whether the company’s offline-led expansion can continue to accelerate its share in the competitive mid-premium bracket.