Huawei, China's biggest telecom devices company , has set its eyes on
India.The company , which sold a little over 100 million devices last
year globally and lagged only Samsung and Apple, said India is one of
the key markets where it wants to grow and the expansion plan will
include possibility of having a manufacturing presence in the country .
Huawei joins a growing list of major Chinese makers who are eyeing the fast-growing Indian mobile handset market. Companies such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo are already banking on the Indian market for the next phase of growth, as the country looks set to overtake the US and emerge as the second-biggest smartphone market (behind only China).
"India is a strategic, and a critical market for us," George Zhao, president of Huawei's 'Honor' smartphone range, told here. "We are confident on the potential of the Indian smartphone market and will be increasing our investments and product range going forward."
The company is likely to decide on a local manufacturing base as a first step. The Union Budget last year had gi ven an excise benefit of nearly 12% to those making locally and this has prompted companies to make in India, in line with the Modi government's pitch to boost local manufacturing. "We are evaluating aspects related to local manufacturing. We may either source it through a contract manufacturing arrangement or through an independent set-up. This is still being finalized," Zhao said.
The focus of Huawei will also be to boost sales of `Honor' brand, which was originally started as an "onlineonly division" but is gradually being pushed through the offline channels as well. The company is talking to mobile operators such as Reliance Jio and Airtel. "Honor is one of the fastest growing business for us and closed last year with $6 billion in sales against just $100 million in 2013. We will provide localized devices which are in sync with conditions in the Indian market," an official said. Huawei sold around a million devices in India last year and hopes for an exponential growth in the coming years.
"We have a R&D set-up in India which understands what the Indian consumers want."
Zhao conceded that competition in India is stiff, both from Chinese players as well as homegrown brands such as Micromax and Lava. MNC players such as Samsung and Apple also compete with the company's devices.
Huawei joins a growing list of major Chinese makers who are eyeing the fast-growing Indian mobile handset market. Companies such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo are already banking on the Indian market for the next phase of growth, as the country looks set to overtake the US and emerge as the second-biggest smartphone market (behind only China).
"India is a strategic, and a critical market for us," George Zhao, president of Huawei's 'Honor' smartphone range, told here. "We are confident on the potential of the Indian smartphone market and will be increasing our investments and product range going forward."
The company is likely to decide on a local manufacturing base as a first step. The Union Budget last year had gi ven an excise benefit of nearly 12% to those making locally and this has prompted companies to make in India, in line with the Modi government's pitch to boost local manufacturing. "We are evaluating aspects related to local manufacturing. We may either source it through a contract manufacturing arrangement or through an independent set-up. This is still being finalized," Zhao said.
The focus of Huawei will also be to boost sales of `Honor' brand, which was originally started as an "onlineonly division" but is gradually being pushed through the offline channels as well. The company is talking to mobile operators such as Reliance Jio and Airtel. "Honor is one of the fastest growing business for us and closed last year with $6 billion in sales against just $100 million in 2013. We will provide localized devices which are in sync with conditions in the Indian market," an official said. Huawei sold around a million devices in India last year and hopes for an exponential growth in the coming years.
"We have a R&D set-up in India which understands what the Indian consumers want."
Zhao conceded that competition in India is stiff, both from Chinese players as well as homegrown brands such as Micromax and Lava. MNC players such as Samsung and Apple also compete with the company's devices.
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