Despite the chorus to shun Chinese goods grows across India, Chinese smartphones — OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro — went out-of-stock within minutes after its sale began via Amazon India on June 18.
At the same time, #BoycottChineseProducts was among the top Twitter trends in India for the past two days, after 20 Army personnel, including an officer, were bludgeoned to death by Chinese in Galwan Valley, Ladakh.
Another Chinese firm Xiaomi, the number one smartphone brand in the country, recently sold its first laptop series in India on 17 June. Meanwhile, China’s Oppo cancelled the live online launch of its flagship smartphone in India due to growing anti-China sentiments.
The popular electronics brand recently hosted the sale of its flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 8 Pro in India, the sale ran out within minutes after it went on sale. The pace of sales shows that how Indians are crazy on cheap priced Chinese products. The first consignment of OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro was sold out within minutes on June 15. The second sale which took place on June 18 also sold out within minutes.
The phone was unveiled in April, but sales in India have only begun from this month onwards due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. OnePlus 8 is priced in India at Rs 41,999 for the exclusive Amazon base model while the OnePlus 8 Pro is priced in India between Rs 54,999 and Rs 59,999.
OnePlus is one of the top Chinese smartphone brands in India that is now placing its bet in the premium category. Chinese smartphone players currently dominate the Indian market with over 70 per cent market share.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has released a list of more than 500 Chinese products to be boycotted. The list of over 500 items released by CAIT include FMCG products, consumer durables, toys, furnishing fabrics, textiles, builder hardware, footwear, apparel, kitchen items, luggage, hand bags, cosmetics, gift items, electrical and electronics, fashion apparel, food, watches. gems and jwellery, clothing, stationery, paper, household items, furniture, lighting, health and, packaging products, auto parts, Yarn, Feng Shui Items, Diwali and Holi Items and optical items.
The CAIT also wrote to cricket and Bollywood celebrities - Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Deepike Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shetty and Madhuri Dixit, to join the campaign to boycott Chinese products.
India relies on China for the bulk of its imports, with purchases in the year ended March running into more than $60 billion. Beijing runs a trade surplus of about $50 billion with New Delhi. Chinese firms such as Great Wall, SAIC and Bytedance have placed major bets on India, where investors like Alibaba also fund many startups. Chinese smartphone brands, including Oppo and Xiaomi, account for eight of every 10 smartphones sold in India.
