Amber Enterprises to Manufacture Oppo, OnePlus Phones

Amber Enterprises India has signed a manufacturing collaboration agreement with Oppo Mobiles India to produce Oppo, OnePlus and Realme smartphones. The electronics manufacturer will commence trial production in the fourth quarter of the 2026-27 financial year, PTI reported.

Commercial operations are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of the 2027-28 financial year, which begins in the March 2027 quarter, Amber Enterprises India Executive Chairman Jasbir Singh said during the company's earnings call.

The company has also hired a chief operating officer to lead its mobile vertical.

"Our group is set to foray into mobile phones through a manufacturing collaboration agreement with Oppo Mobiles India. The scope covers three brands, Oppo, OnePlus and Realme. We are on course to commence the trial production by quarter 4 of FY27 and commercial production to begin quarter 1 of FY28," Singh told PTI.

Ambitious Production Targets

Amber expects to manufacture around 8 million smartphone units in the first year of operations.

Amber projects production will double to 15-16 million units in the second year of operations.

"On the scale front, we expect to begin with around 8 million units in the first year, followed by a calibrated phase-wise ramp-up, and expect to double to almost 15-16 million in the second year of operations," Singh told PTI.

Shift to Asset-Light Models

China's BBK Electronics founded both Vivo and Oppo, though the companies claim to have independent operations. Oppo smartphones are currently produced at Vivo's Noida facility for sale in India.

Vivo is hiving off its Noida manufacturing plant into a joint venture with Dixon Technologies.

This shift indicates that Chinese smartphone brands are moving towards asset-light models to reduce direct manufacturing exposure in India.

This strategic pivot follows regulatory scrutiny. The Enforcement Directorate has taken action against Vivo, while the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has pursued tax action against Oppo.

Despite these hurdles, BBK brands dominate the market. Vivo led the Indian smartphone sector with a 17.8 per cent share in the second quarter of 2026, followed by Samsung at 17.6 per cent and Oppo at 13.6 per cent, according to Counterpoint Research.

Combined, BBK brands—including iQoo, Realme and OnePlus—garnered 45.6 per cent of the Indian market during the quarter.

PCB Business Challenges

Amber's bare printed circuit board (PCB) business is experiencing margin compression due to rising Copper-Clad Laminate (CCL) costs.

"CopperClad Laminate price is continuing to increase. It will keep on increasing because of artificial intelligence and data centre requirements. There is a lot of shortage of Copperclad Laminate also. We are able to pass on to the customers all the price increases we have," Singh told PTI.

The company is passing the increased CCL costs on to its customers with a slight lag. Amber plans to establish its own CCL manufacturing plant by 2029-30, Singh told PTI.