International Business Management: A Case Study on OnePlus' Entry into Brazil

This case study analyzes OnePlus' entry into Brazil, a developing country with a growing economy. It discusses the challenges and opportunities they faced in terms of external and internal environments, including the political, economic, social, and technological factors. The study also examines OnePlus' business and marketing strategies, and provides recommendations for the company to overcome the challenges and succeed in the Brazilian market.

International
Business
Management

Introduction
• Current business scenario is much more competitive for the
business organizations (Paik and Zhu 2013).
• It is important for the contemporary business organizations to
initiate new strategies.
• Initiation of international business is one of the most effective
strategies.

Company profile
• OnePlus is one of the emerging smartphone manufacturers in
the world.
• They were founded in China in 2013 (Oneplusstore.com
2017).
• Currently they are having 5.9 % of global smartphone market.
• Their mission is to provide flagship devices in more affordable
price.

• Samsung is the clear market leader.
• OnePlus is being included in the “others” category.

Business strategy of
OnePlus
• Offering premium products in affordable price (Rosenstein
2017).
• Product having top notch features.
• Developing countries are being targeted (ETTelecom.com
2017).
• Premium pricing compared to mainstream competitors.

Marketing strategy of OnePlus (Rosenstein 2017)

Selection of the home
country
• Brazil is being selected as chosen country.
• They are one of the leading developing countries in the world.
• Increase in the middle income groups.
• Initiation of the business friendly regulations by the
government.

Economy of Brazil
• Brazil is estimated to overtake United Kingdom by 2015.
• Thus, the growth of them is more compared to developed
countries (J. Perry 2017).

External environment
• Determination of the external environment is important.
• OnePlus will have to adhere with the different environment in
the host country.
• PEST analysis will help to determine the external
environment.

Political environment
• Stable political scenario in Brazil.
• Issue of corruption prevails.
• Brazil ranked at 79 in terms of global corruption
index (e.V 2017).
• Threat of frequent change in political scenario.

Political and economical environment of Brazil (Scissors 2017)

Economic environment
• Developing economy.
• Cost of employees is low.
• Higher corporate tax is one of the key issues.
• No incentives for domestic production.

Social environment
• Growth in the middle class.
• Brazilian population is open towards new brands and
technologies.
• Social preference towards the established brands is a
challenge for OnePlus.

Technological
environment
• Poor technological infrastructure in Brazil (Nagamo,
Stefanovitz and Vick 2014).
• OnePlus will face the challenge of access to newer
technologies.
• However, IT sector is rapidly developing in Brazil.
• OnePlus have to offer their global portfolio in Brazil (Jean
2017).

Internal environment
analysis
• Analysis of internal environment is also important.
• Will help to determine the internal effectiveness of the
organization.
• SWOT analysis will used to identify the internal environment
of OnePlus.

Strengths
• Offering top notch features in the devices.
• Frequent rolling out of software (Versavel and Lammens
2016).
• Premium positioning of the brand (Bacon et al. 2017).
• Target market being the developing countries is having huge
opportunities (Luu and Lubwama Muhamad 2016).

Weaknesses
• Lack of brand value compared to global brands (Kapferer
2012).
• Shortage of experience in international business.
• Huge investment involved in entering in Brazil.

Opportunities
• Rapid growth of Brazilian economy.
• Covering more market with affordable pricing strategy.
• Business friendly initiatives by the government
(En.portal.santandertrade.com 2017).
• Huge population (Sawyer 2015).

Threats
• Threat of entry of new competitors at any point of time
(Babatunde and Adebisi 2012).
• Offering of more affordable products in the market.
• Rapid change in the taste and preference of the customers.
• No prior idea about the Brazilian market for OnePlus.

Recommendations
• Initiation of joint venture or partnership with local partners in
order to reduce the risk (Sun and Lee 2013).
• It will also help in determining the local requirement.
• Initiation of extensive brand promotions to enhance the brand
value (Aekar and Biel 2013).
• Providing effective customer service (Jahanshani et al. 2014).

Conclusion
• OnePlus is having huge business opportunities in Brazil.
• They will have challenges in terms of both external and
internal environments.
• Effective implementation of the recommendations will help to
overcome the challenges.

Reference
• J. Perry, M. (2017). CARPE DIEM: Brazil to Surpass
U.K. in 2011 to Be No. 6 Economy. [online]
Mjperry.blogspot.in. Available at:
http://mjperry.blogspot.in/2011/10/brazil-to-surpass-uk-in-
2011-to-be-no-6.html [Accessed 30 Nov. 2017].
• e.V., T. (2017). Transparency International - Brazil.
[online] Transparency.org. Available at:
https://www.transparency.org/country/BRA [Accessed 30
Nov. 2017].

Reference
• ETTelecom.com. (2017). OnePlus becomes fastest growing
premium smartphone in India; doubles market share during
2017 Q3 - ET Telecom. [online] Available at:
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/oneplu
s-becomes-fastest-growing-premium-smartphone-in-india-
doubles-market-share-during-2017-q3/61648670 [Accessed
30 Nov. 2017].
• Scissors, D. (2017). Brazil: Restoring Economic Growth
Through Economic Freedom. [online] The Heritage
Foundation. Available at:
http://www.heritage.org/americas/report/brazil-restoring-
economic-growth-through-economic-freedom [Accessed 30
Nov. 2017].

Reference
• Bacon, J., Ritson, M., Hobbs, T., Roderick, L., Gloyne,
R., and Woollen, P. (2017). How OnePlus is taking on
the mobile giants - Marketing Week. [online] Marketing
Week. Available at:
https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/03/02/how-
oneplus-is-taking-on-the-mobile-giants/ [Accessed 30
Nov. 2017].
• En.portal.santandertrade.com. (2017). Foreign investment in
Brazil - Santandertrade.com. [online] Available at:
https://en.portal.santandertrade.com/establish-overseas/braz
il/foreign-investment [Accessed 30 Nov. 2017].

Reference
• Rosenstein, A. (2017). How OnePlus One's Marketing
Strategy Made it So Desirable. [online] The Next Web.
Available at: https://thenextweb.com/market-
intelligence/2015/03/17/how-oneplus-ones-marketing-
made-it-the-most-desirable-phone-in-the-world/
[Accessed 30 Nov. 2017].
• Oneplusstore.in. (2017). Never Settle - OnePlus.net.
[online] Available at: https://oneplusstore.in/about-us
[Accessed 30 Nov. 2017].

Reference
• Paik, Y. and Zhu, F., 2013. The impact of patent wars on firm
strategy: Evidence from the global smartphone market.
Harvard Business School.
• Sawyer, D., 2015. Population and sustainable consumption in
Brazil. Livros, pp.225-254.
• Nagano, M.S., Stefanovitz, J.P. and Vick, T.E., 2014. Innovation
management processes, their internal organizational
elements and contextual factors: An investigation in Brazil.
Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 33,
pp.63-92.

Reference
• Versavel, M. and Lammens, H., 2016. The OnePlus phone:
evaluation of the company’s strategy and determination of
the customers’ brand perception and buying triggers.
Language.
• Luu, D. and Lubwama Muhamad, S., 2016. Customers
Perspective of a Non-Reward Referral Marketing.: A Case
Study of OnePlus Smartphone Manufacturer.
• Jean, A.T., 2017. AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF
INNOVATION ON THE COMPETITIVENESS OF SMARTPHONE
MANUFACTURERS. International Journal of Management
Research and Reviews, 7(9), pp.872-892.

Reference
• Kapferer, J.N., 2012. The new strategic brand management:
Advanced insights and strategic thinking. Kogan page
publishers.
• Babatunde, B.O. and Adebisi, A.O., 2012. Strategic
Environmental Scanning and Organization Performance in a
Competitive Business Environment. Economic Insights-Trends
& Challenges, 64(1).
• Sun, S.L. and Lee, R.P., 2013, September. Enhancing innovation
through international joint venture portfolios: From the
emerging firm perspective. American Marketing Association.

Reference
• Aaker, D.A. and Biel, A., 2013. Brand equity & advertising:
advertising's role in building strong brands. Psychology Press.
• Jahanshani, A.A., Hajizadeh, G.M.A., Mirdhamadi, S.A.,
Nawaser, K. and Khaksar, S.M.S., 2014. Study the effects of
customer service and product quality on customer satisfaction
and loyalty.