India will be our largest R&D base in next 3 years: OnePlus

New Delhi: Premium smartphone maker OnePlus is betting on the engineering talent pool in the country to drive innovation and expects India to become its largest research and development (R&D) base in the next three years.

The company, which has recently set up its R&D centre in Hyderabad, has similar facilities in Shenzhen, Taiwan and the US. It has about 700 people globally working in its R&D teams.

"We are looking at India as a global talent hub for the company. The idea is to have a long-term approach, bringing the best of talent and training them and have them work with us over the long term.... We anticipate that India will be our largest R&D base in three or more years," OnePlus co-founder and CEO Pete Lau said.

He added that the company is engaging with the top engineering colleges like IITs to scout for talent. The India R&D team has under 100 people currently.

The focus, Lau said, is on using software and technologies like artificial intelligence to make a global impact.

He, however, declined to comment on how the headcount of the India R&D team would be ramped up.

Lau highlighted that there is "significant untapped potential" in the Indian market as the premium segment accounts for about 4-5 per cent of the overall smartphone shipment.