China’s Xiaomi Inc. has tied up with Taiwan’s Foxconn to assemble its mobile phones in India, in a bid to cut costs and boost its market share in world’s third-largest smartphone market.
Xiaomi on Monday launched its first Made-in-India phone, Redmi 2 Prime, an enhanced version of Redmi 2, with 2GB RAM and 16 GB flash memory. Its is priced at Rs.6,999.
Launching the product at a function here, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said that his government was providing the ideal eco-system to make Andhra Pradesh (AP) a manufacturing hub for hardware. Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, Mr. Naidu said Xiaomi’s entry would boost the image of the State as a investment destination.
Xiaomi will produce smartphones at Sri City near Tada and announced that it will make phones for sale in India with 100 per cent indigenous production over the next 14 months. Redmi 2 Prime, assembled mostly with imported parts.
Xiaomi Global Vice-President Hugo Barra said manufacturing smartphones locally was a significant step towards incorporating Xiaomi into the fabric of India.
Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, said Xiaomi was a unique example of “invested by China, made in India.”
Xiaomi-India head Manu Jain said they had lot of plans for India without specifying their investment roadmap for future. After kicking off its operations as a start-up in 2010 by serial entrepreneur Lei Jun, Xiaomi, with the help of Mi fans, had sold 61 million handsets in its first four years. It also diversified into Mi Note Pro, Mi Note, Mi TV, and other products.
Published - August 11, 2015 03:13 am IST
