OnePlus to launch an India-specific smartphone next year

While OnePlus may have only made its debut in India today, it already has something special for the consumers. In a chat with BGR India, Carl Pei, Director of OnePlus Global, revealed how the company

While OnePlus may have only made its debut in India today, it already has something special for the consumers. In a chat with BGR India, Carl Pei, Director of OnePlus Global, revealed how the company is planning on launching an India-specific smartphone next year.

“We realize that India has its own specific needs, so we are setting up a team here to help localize our company and products. Next year we have one product planned specifically for India,” Pei said. When we asked him for a launch timeline, Pei said that it would arrive sometime in the last quarter of 2015.

ALSO READ: OnePlus in advanced talks with Valley-based VCs for investment

An India-specific smartphone is not the only thing the company has for the buyers here. As we have reported before, OnePlus has partnered HCL to offer after-sales service, and Pei also mentioned how the company had setup a team here, which is the only one outside China. “The main difference with India is that we have a local team, and this is a model that we seek to perfect in India and then replicate across the world,” Pei said.

To recap, OnePlus today launched the One in India, priced at Rs 21,999. The flagship killer features a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM, and 64GB internal storage. Also included are 13-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 3,100mAh battery. On the software front, the smartphone runs on the CyanogenMod ROM CM11s with several customized features.

The company however has had to deal with a difficult scenario with Cyanogen inking a deal with Micromax to exclusively license its software to the forthcoming YU series of smartphones. In other words, the move essentially takes the rights from OnePlus to sell CyanogenMod-powered handsets in India. The company has however assured buyers of its commitment and also revealed plans to release its own customized Android build in February next year.