NEW DELHI: In a landmark development for India’s burgeoning electronics manufacturing ecosystem, prominent Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider Amber Enterprises India has announced a strategic manufacturing collaboration with Oppo Mobiles India. According to top company leadership, Amber is gearing up to commence commercial production of major Chinese smartphone brands including Oppo, OnePlus, and Realme starting from the first quarter of fiscal year 2028, which corresponds to the March 2027 quarter.
Addressing investors and analysts during the company's recent earnings call, Jasbir Singh, Executive Chairman, CEO, and Whole-time Director of Amber Enterprises, detailed the roadmap for this major vertical expansion. Singh revealed that trial production is slated to kick off in the fourth quarter of FY27. To ensure seamless execution and operational excellence, Amber has already onboarded a dedicated Chief Operating Officer specifically for its newly established mobile manufacturing vertical.
The scale of operations outlined by Amber is substantial. The company expects an initial production volume of approximately 8 million units of Oppo group smartphone brands in its first operational year. Driven by a calibrated, phase-wise ramp-up strategy, Amber projects this volume to double, targeting roughly 15 to 16 million units in the second year of operations. This massive capacity expansion underscores Amber's aggressive diversification strategy beyond its traditional consumer durables and air conditioning components portfolio into high-growth electronic hardware segments.
This partnership also highlights a critical structural shift within the Indian operations of major Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Historically rooted in groups like BBK Electronics—whose collective brand ecosystem, including Vivo, Oppo, iQoo, Realme, and OnePlus, commanded a commanding 45.6% share of the Indian smartphone market in Q2 2026 according to Counterpoint Research—these brands are increasingly pivoting toward asset-light operational models. By outsourcing manufacturing to domestic EMS giants like Amber and Dixon Technologies (which is forming a joint venture for Vivo’s Noida plant), these smartphone majors are seeking to reduce their direct fixed-asset exposure and mitigate regulatory and compliance risks in India following recent scrutiny by agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.
Beyond the smartphone vertical, Singh also addressed broader macroeconomic and supply chain dynamics affecting Amber’s component ecosystem, particularly the printed circuit board (PCB) business. The company has experienced margin compression in bare PCBs due to a steep, continuous surge in Copper-Clad Laminate (CCL) costs. Singh noted that while CCL prices are being aggressively driven up by unprecedented global demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure and data center requirements—coupled with severe supply shortages—Amber has successfully maintained its pricing discipline by passing on these cost increments to clients with a minor operational lag. To build long-term supply chain resilience, Amber is proactively exploring the setup of a dedicated CCL manufacturing plant by 2029-30.
"The strategic entry of Amber Enterprises into mobile manufacturing for global heavyweights like Oppo, OnePlus, and Realme marks a definitive turning point for India's electronics manufacturing services sector. As Chinese smartphone brands accelerate their transition toward asset-light models by partnering with domestic EMS leaders, we are witnessing a structural consolidation of the Make in India initiative. This collaboration not only validates the manufacturing maturity and execution capabilities of Indian enterprises but also creates a robust multiplier effect across the entire component supply chain. At StartupLanes, we believe that capitalising on such high-volume manufacturing partnerships will be vital for India as it cements its position as a global electronics hub, despite near-term supply chain headwinds in critical inputs like copper-clad laminates." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes
