Nord, the Nerd?

OnePlus has launched its ‘affordable’ smartphone Nord in India and tries to define affordability in its own way. Would the Nord turn out to be the ‘Nerd’ for OnePlus and its flagship range or would it disrupt the competition?

- Haider Ali Khan

‘Affordable’ seems to have a new benchmark in India. A few months ago, the American company, Apple, launched its second-generation iPhone SE 2020 and priced at around Rs 42,990 and called it ‘affordable’. Similarly, the Chinese label, OnePlus, has launched its own version of ‘affordable’ smartphone in India, the OnePlus Nord, which sells at Rs 24,999.

The per capita income of India stood at Rs 11,254 in 2019-20 and in such a country companies define affordability by their own methods. It is up to you to decide whether a smartphone at Rs 24,000 or more sounds, looks or feels ‘affordable’ to you.

OnePlus has cleverly placed Nord in the competition and now tries to expand its reach for the below 30K buyers but, does it make sense for a premium brand to look back?

“Generally, if we look at premium brands across product categories that have attempted to enter a relatively affordable segment, the results have not been encouraging. This is primarily because the brands compromise on quality and create a new value proposition on the price-quality continuum. Apple’s C series of iPhones is an example to it,” said Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Chief Analyst at techARC

Role Reversal