The iQOO 13 goes on sale today in India and I had a chance to speak to Nipun Marya, CEO of the iQOO business in India on the latest launch and the brand’s strategy in India. Nipun was previously at Vivo India and joined iQOO nearly 3 years ago.
How’s your journey with iQOO been so far. India is a crowded and competitive smartphone market. What are you doing differently?
The last couple of years has been about the setting up the brand and what the iQOO brand should stand for. Instead of chasing the price points and launching devices based on that, we understood that there was an unmet demand for performance centric phones. Vivo was acing the camera space and multiple brands were positioning camera as their USP. There are a set of users who want powerful devices with an equally good camera at every price point. We felt that iQOO could certainly fill this gap in the market. This became our core proposition and promise to our consumers. You will get the best in performance at whatever price point you go with from us.
Gaming is emerging as a new factor for device selection by consumers. What is your take on this?
Gaming and eSports is certainly much more popular than it was a couple of years back. And if you really want to do good gaming or run heavy games, then you need a phone, which is really powerful. iQOO has emerged as a very strong choice for users who look for gaming and look for performance as their core reason to buy. But having said that apart, what iQOO has certainly seen and what we have seen is that beyond gaming also there are multiple use cases, some of which I shared earlier as well, where people are saying, I think iQOO is a very good choice for me because it gives me excellent performance, very good camera, good battery life, fast charging, I’m an IT professional, I get heavy apps, or I have heavy apps, then I get heavy files. And there are different people we’ve met, some people are creators, they say I need to run heavy software, editing apps, video apps, etc on the phone. And with this phone I can certainly do editing also on the go, I can run professional software which are not possible in a lower powered device. So those kinds of people have also come. So yes, apart from gamers, which certainly love iQOO, and we love them, we’ve also seen use cases emerging beyond gaming.
You seem to be betting big on Community, how does it translate into your products?
Community is at the heart of everything we do at iQOO. While other brands have focused on community, we are truly built from ours—bottom-up. We take every piece of feedback and suggestion seriously, integrating them into our products and marketing. For instance, before rolling out campaigns, we consult our community on concepts and scripts, leveraging their input as a strong sounding board. Their insights reflect the preferences of their friends and peers, who are also our fans and consumers. At iQOO, co-creation is central to our ethos—making us a brand shaped by the people, for the people.
Your thoughts on the iQOO 13 and launching it on the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset
Performance is our core focus, and the processor or SOC plays a critical role in delivering it. We strive to be among the first to bring the latest, most powerful chipsets to our consumers. However, it’s not just about being first; it’s about achieving the right optimization with the best hardware and software integration. Our collaboration with partners like Qualcomm ensures meticulous backend work, resulting in iQOO phones that outperform competitors even on the same chipset—offering faster, smoother, and cooler performance. For us, it’s about maximizing the chipset’s potential to deliver the best experience to our users.
Can you share more details Q2 supercomputing chip?
The Q2 supercomputing chip is Vivo and iQOO’s proprietary innovation designed for gaming and eSports enthusiasts. It enables interpolation of up to 144 FPS, delivering an exceptionally smooth gaming experience. Paired with the world’s first 2K 144Hz Eyecare display in the IQOO 13, it transforms user experiences, especially for gaming. With positive feedback from consumers on both the Q1 and Q2 chips, we remain committed to innovating and enhancing the eSports experience.
What’s your partnership with BMW about?
Our longstanding partnership with BMW, specifically BMW M Motorsport, is built on shared values of innovation and high-performance excellence. BMW M Motorsport epitomizes cutting-edge speed and performance, aligning perfectly with ICO’s vision. This collaboration aims to inspire our users with the spirit of ultimate performance that both brands represent.
Your devices are primarily sold on e-commerce platforms, so that happens if users face issues with their devices and require support?
At iQOO, strong after-sales service has been a priority from the start, leveraging Vivo’s extensive network of over 650 service centres known for industry-leading customer satisfaction. This ensures iQOO customers receive fast, reliable, and satisfactory support. With vivo’s proven expertise, iQOO users can confidently address any phone issues, making after-sales service a key strength rather than a pain point.
Do you have any plans for offering a 2-year warranty vs the current 1-year warranty which is the industry norm?
We align with industry norms regarding warranties, focusing instead on delivering reliable quality, excellent service, and regular software updates. While extended warranties can provide added satisfaction to some consumers, we believe maintaining high-quality standards and ensuring phones run smoothly is more important than the length of the warranty. With the iQOO 13 we are for the first time offering 4 years of Android updates and 5 years of security updates.
Why should a consumer in the market for a new device consider the iQOO 13 over the competition?
From performance to gaming to even camera capabilities to live-streaming to battery with 6000 mAh, 120 watt fast charging inside the box, world’s first 2K, 144Hz display. I don’t think any other device can even come close to the iQOO 13, let alone comparing and being confused. You can confidently buy the iQOO 13 and for the next four or five years till we are supporting you and even beyond, I think you’ll be totally satisfied.