As Flipkart laces up for another set of 'Big Shopping Days' (from December 18-21), they are going over the top to make it a major success. And in the endeavour, the Indian ecommerce giant is promoting on its homepage products that are in an exclusive deal with their rival competitor Amazon. One such instance in OnePlus 3, which will be priced Rs 10,000 lesser.
However, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei on Friday questioned Flipkart on Twitter asking for explanations on the same. In a tweet on Friday, Carl Pei wrote to Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal ,"brother, what's this? We're exclusive with @amazonIN" (sic). He added: "For premium brands, trust is everything. We would never betray trust by dropping prices like this."
Flipkart has reated a product page for OnePlus 3, saying the device is coming soon on the website.
In a statement, Flipkart defended itself, suggesting that as a marketplace, it had multiple third-party sellers who were free to sell anything at any price."Flipkart is a marketplace which helps sellers connect with customers across the country. All our sellers are mandated to adhere to stringent guidelines. The prices and discounts for all our sales are decided by the participating sellers and brands," the company said.
Amazon India also reiterated it had an exclusive partnership with OnePlus which would extend through 2017 as well. "Amazon.in has an exclusive partnership with OnePlus brand since December 2014. Amazon has successfully brought the flagship OnePlus smartphone devices to Indian customers, right from OnePlus 1, OnePlus 2, OnePlus X, OnePlus 3 and now the latest flagship, OnePlus 3T," a spokesperson said.
In a separate statement, OnePlus told The Economic Times, "OnePlus is focused on creating premium flagship smartphones.We have an exclusive partnership with Amazon in India. We advise customers to purchase OnePlus products only through official channels as we can't guarantee authenticity of the products sold elsewhere.