Inventec Corporation, a Taiwan-based
original device manufacturer (ODM)
specialising in laptops, mobiles, and
servers, will reportedly soon set up a
production line at a leased factory in
Chennai, India, with production set to
begin at the end of the Q2 2015, or the
start of Q3 2015.
The Chennai factory is envisioned to mee
Inventec's production demand for the
next couple of years. Digitimes quotes th
company to report the move, but as yet,
no official announcement by Inventec
has been made.
Exactly what will be produced in the
Chennai factory has also not been
revealed, but it is Inventec is speculated
to be making smartphones and other
devices for China's Apple - Xiaomi. The
firm's manufacturing of Xiaomi
smartphones in India will prove to be a
big help for the Chinese smartphone
maker as it currently faces a number of
difficulties in shipping millions of units
across the border for its flash sales in
India.
Interestingly, Xiaomi Vice President Hugo
Barra in November last year revealed tha
the company has plans to start
production in India within the next two
years, and the report that one of its
biggest suppliers, Inventec, is starting
production in India falls in-line with
those claims.
Notably, Foxconn, Xiaomi's other major
supplier for smartphones, shut
operations at its Chennai plant in late-
December, and had attributed a change
in its customer base as the reason for th
closure. While this cannot yet be
confirmed, Inventec may set up shop at
the same factory.
The news about Inventec's production
set up in India comes a week after
Xiaomi India Head Manu Jain confirmed
that the company is in the process of
signing the lease on a facility in
Bengaluru, which will be the R&D unit.
This will also be Xiaomi's first R&D unit
outside China.
The Digitimes report further quotes
Inventec chairman Richard Lee to say th
firm expects shipments of OEM/ ODM
devices to reach 100 million units this
year, up 33 percent from the 75 million
units shipped last year.
Furthermore, Lee added that smartphone
shipments will surge to 60 million units i
2015, up from last year's 55 million, and
PC products shipments, including
notebooks will reach 24-25 million this
year as compared to last year's 20
million units.
http://m.gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/inventec-to-reportedly-start-production-in-chennai-may-make-xiaomi-devices-657464
