TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Chinese smartphone maker Oppo on Wednesday (June 17) canceled the live online launch of its new phone in India as tensions reached a fever pitch after a deadly clash the previous day between Indian and Chinese troops.
On Tuesday (June 16), a melee broke out between Indian and Chinese troops on a disputed stretch of border in the Ladakh region, with the Indian side suffering 20 dead and the PLA allegedly reporting 43 dead and wounded. The bloody battle led many angry Indian consumers to smash Chinese-made products and call for an outright boycott of goods from the communist country.
Oppo had originally scheduled a "live unveiling" of its Find X2 and Find X2 Pro phones, the company's first 5G phones for the Indian market, reported Gadgets 360. However, the live YouTube video, which was slated for 4 p.m. on Wednesday, never appeared; instead, an error message says "This video has been removed by the uploader."
The Chinese company later uploaded a 20-minute pre-recorded video. Oppo did not respond to queries as to why it had canceled the live broadcast, but Reuters cited a source as saying "There is tension in the environment."
Chinese brands currently dominate the Indian market, with Xiaomi, Vivo, Realme, and Oppo accounting for nearly 76 percent of the market and Oppo holding 12 percent. However, these market shares may soon plummet relative to non-Chinese rivals as the hashtags #HindiCheeniByeBye and #BharatVsChina trending on Twitter in the South Asian nation.
"Hindi Cheeni Bye Bye" is a play on the Hindi language slogan "Hindi Cheeni Bhai Bhai," which means "India China brothers." Bharat is the Hindi name for India, thus the hashtag #BharatVsChina translates to "India vs. China."