Xiaomi announced the opening of three new smartphone manufacturing plants in India as part of its strategy to enhance business in the country.
The strategy to enhance domestic manufacturing capabilities is expected to increase job in India and new business opportunities to mobile phone component companies.
The China-headquartered Xiaomi did not reveal its investment in the latest smartphone production units in India.
Xiaomi, India’s #1 smartphone company ahead of Korea’s Samsung, has also started manufacturing smartphones at its power bank plant in partnership with Hipad Technology in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
Xiaomi has six smartphone manufacturing plants in India.
Xiaomi, as part of its localization strategy, added its first SMT (Surface Mount Technology) plant dedicated towards local manufacturing of PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly) units in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, in partnership with Foxconn.
“In 2015 we extended our long-term commitment to the Indian market by joining the ‘Make in India’ programme. Today we are deepening this commitment with three more smartphone factories and our first SMT plant dedicated towards local manufacturing of PCBA units,” Manu Jain, managing director, Xiaomi India, said.
Xiaomi made these announcements at its first Supplier Investment Summit in India where the company is hosting over 50 global smartphone component suppliers to educate them about the Indian manufacturing ecosystem, with the aim of helping them to set up manufacturing units in India.
“With 5G development progressing rapidly, smartphone revolution opens the door to plethora of applications. Prime among those would be in the areas of augmented reality, virtual reality, driverless automobiles etc. “Smart phone manufacturing OEMs are ramping up production capacity to cater to expected demand in 5G,” Sandeep Kapoor, head Marketing Aerospace Defense – EMEAI Region & country head Marketing India, said.
Xiaomi growth strategy
Xiaomi set up its first smartphone plant in partnership with Foxconn in 2015. Xiaomi built its second manufacturing plant in March 2017. Xiaomi set up its powerbank plant in partnership with Hipad Technologies in November 2017. Xiaomi sells over 95 percent of smartphones manufactured in India.
Xiaomi’s three new smartphone plants — in partnership with Foxconn — are across campuses in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh and a new campus in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu with a total campus area of 180 acres.
The smartphone factories with Foxconn employ more than 10,000 people including 95 percent females. Women manage the assembly work of smartphones at these plants. The new smartphone factories will result in an increased production capacity of two smartphones / second during operational hours.
Xiaomi aims to enhance its PCBA production – at its units in Chennai, Tamil Nadu — to close to 100 percent of its locally produced phones within Q3 CY 2018.
Xiaomi has smartphone market share of 26.8 percent in India, according to research firm IDC. Xiaomi is also the number one player in the online smartphone segment with 57 percent share and the number two smartphone player in the offline space with 11.2 percent share in Q4 2017.
Baburajan K
