As 5G technology expected to launch in India in 2021, Oppo is looking to make some collaborations to introduce 5G smartphones in the country.

Oppo announced on December 22 that it has set up a 5G innovation lab in Hyderabad. This will be the first 5G lab set up by the Chinese smartphone maker outside China. In the future, the company has plans to launch three more labs at its Hyderabad research and development centre that will focus on the camera, battery and performance and performance. “With this lab setup, while we work towards developing core technologies for 5G era and strengthen the overall ecosystem, we also aim to support India in its 5G journey. The technologies developed at the lab will mark a global footprint while promising our vision to make India an innovation hub,” Tasleem Arif, Oppo India Vice President and Head for Research and Development, said in a statement. Oppo also mentioned in its media release that it has already submitted over 3,000 5G standard-related proposals to 3GPP along with the declaration of over a thousand families of 5G standard patents to the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI). With 5G technology expected to launch in India in 2021, Oppo is also in talks with telecom companies like Airtel Jio and chipset makers Qualcomm and MediaTek to introduce 5G smartphones in the country. So far, Oppo hasn’t launched a 5G-enabled phone in India unlike OnePlus, Apple and other brands. It will be interesting to see whether Oppo offers affordable 5G phones in India and whether it will limit the support to its upper mid-range and flagship smartphones for sometime.