Huawei has been looking for an opportunity in India to set up its manufacturing facility and the day has finally come. Honouring the ‘Make in India’ initiative, Huawei will be starting production of smartphones in India from the first week of October.
Singapore-based Flextronics International Ltd., an electronics major, has a plant in Chennai that rolls out a phone every 15 seconds. The Honor smartphone series will be the first to be produced in India and will subsequently go on sale from the next month onwards.
Flex’s plant has an area of 645,000 sq. ft. and houses around 8,000 employees at once. Huawei will be collaborating with Flex to manufacture smartphones from the Chennai facility. The plant is expected to ramp up operations to three million units by the end of 2017.
Android Authority adds that ,”Huawei will be strengthening its after sales services in India with over 200 service centers, including more than 30 exclusive Huawei service centers. The company is also looking at expanding its distribution network by partnering with more than 50,000 retail outlets by the end of 2016 to create a comprehensive, nationwide distribution system.”
Other Chinese manufacturers like LeEco, Vivo, Lenovo, Oppo and Gionee has already either started manufacturing phones in India, or have reached out to the Government for domestic manufacturing plant approval.
At the moment then smartphone makers are looking to invest in India because of the growing popularity of smartphones and the evergreen market here. However, none of these companies are looking to export smartphones from India to Africa and South-East Asian countries.
Moreover, since the relaxation in local sourcing norms by the Government came into effect, Chinese manufacturers have shown an interest in setting up own retail stores. This way these companies would follow the omni-channel strategy of marketing and sales in India.
For Indian smartphone enthusiasts and owners, we just hope the smartphones become cheaper now as the manufacturing shifts to India. The Chinese companies have pledged to maintain the same level of quality and this should encourage Indians to purchase smartphones ‘Made in India’.
Source: AA
