Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc
said on Thursday it would invest further
and begin local production within 12 to
18 months in India, one of the world's
fastest-growing markets and currently
dominated by Samsung Electronics and
local firms like Micromax.
The five-year-old Chinese company,
whose name means "little rice," entered
the Indian market in July last year and
its low-priced but feature-rich
smartphones have proved a big hit, with
sales of over a million phones within five
months.
"We want to invest deeply in this market,
we want to have a significant amount of
research and development done here -
not only for India but the rest of the
world," Hugo Barra , Xiaomi's vice
president of international operations,
said.
Xiaomi, already the fifth-largest phone
company in the Indian market, is
evaluating various locations to set up a
manufacturing unit and is in talks with
local partners and state governments,
Barra said, adding that the process is
likely to take at least a year.
Barra's comments highlight how
important the India market is regarded b
Xiaomi, valued at $45 billion after a
December funding round, said Neil Shah
a Mumbai-based research director for
devices at Counterpoint Research.
Barra did not say how much Xiaomi
might be prepared to invest in India, its
largest market outside China, but the
company is looking to put money into
start-ups and rolling out service centres.
"The fundamental point is we want to
build deeply rooted Indian products
because this is a hugely important
market for us and there is nothing more
powerful than being a local business," h
said, adding that India could also serve
as an export hub.
"We are looking at (serving) the domesti
market to start with but as we expand
into other markets, particularly other
markets in south Asia, it could make
sense to export," he said.
In December Swedish telecoms equipme
firm Ericsson obtained a court order
temporarily halting Xiaomi's shipments t
India, claiming the Chinese company ha
not been paying royalties on its patents.
The matter is pending in an Indian court
However, speaking at the launch of its
latest smartphone in India, Barra said it
was "business as usual" for Xiaomi,
which sold upwards of 60,000 phones a
week last year.
The company, which sells its phones
primarily through flash sales on online
retailer Flipkart.com , also said it will ope
100 stores in India this year to help
consumers "experience" the company's
devices, but will not sell them at these
stores.
"They will have to go with physical
distribution if they want to go beyond th
urban consumers who are just buying
online and the setting up of a local
manufacturing facility would be a step in
that direction," Shah said.
http://m.gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/xiaomi-to-set-up-production-in-india-within-18-months-670030
said on Thursday it would invest further
and begin local production within 12 to
18 months in India, one of the world's
fastest-growing markets and currently
dominated by Samsung Electronics and
local firms like Micromax.
The five-year-old Chinese company,
whose name means "little rice," entered
the Indian market in July last year and
its low-priced but feature-rich
smartphones have proved a big hit, with
sales of over a million phones within five
months.
"We want to invest deeply in this market,
we want to have a significant amount of
research and development done here -
not only for India but the rest of the
world," Hugo Barra , Xiaomi's vice
president of international operations,
said.
Xiaomi, already the fifth-largest phone
company in the Indian market, is
evaluating various locations to set up a
manufacturing unit and is in talks with
local partners and state governments,
Barra said, adding that the process is
likely to take at least a year.
Barra's comments highlight how
important the India market is regarded b
Xiaomi, valued at $45 billion after a
December funding round, said Neil Shah
a Mumbai-based research director for
devices at Counterpoint Research.
Barra did not say how much Xiaomi
might be prepared to invest in India, its
largest market outside China, but the
company is looking to put money into
start-ups and rolling out service centres.
"The fundamental point is we want to
build deeply rooted Indian products
because this is a hugely important
market for us and there is nothing more
powerful than being a local business," h
said, adding that India could also serve
as an export hub.
"We are looking at (serving) the domesti
market to start with but as we expand
into other markets, particularly other
markets in south Asia, it could make
sense to export," he said.
In December Swedish telecoms equipme
firm Ericsson obtained a court order
temporarily halting Xiaomi's shipments t
India, claiming the Chinese company ha
not been paying royalties on its patents.
The matter is pending in an Indian court
However, speaking at the launch of its
latest smartphone in India, Barra said it
was "business as usual" for Xiaomi,
which sold upwards of 60,000 phones a
week last year.
The company, which sells its phones
primarily through flash sales on online
retailer Flipkart.com , also said it will ope
100 stores in India this year to help
consumers "experience" the company's
devices, but will not sell them at these
stores.
"They will have to go with physical
distribution if they want to go beyond th
urban consumers who are just buying
online and the setting up of a local
manufacturing facility would be a step in
that direction," Shah said.
http://m.gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/xiaomi-to-set-up-production-in-india-within-18-months-670030
