Xiaomi, Lenovo to start manufacturing phones in India

Chinese smartphone brands have been making more significant inroads into the global market over the past year. Headlining the group is Xiaomi, but Lenovo, with its Motorola acquisition, and up-and-comer OnePlus have also made a global splash. Now, as growth in the Chinese market for smartphones slows, many of these brands are looking to make big investments in the next big growth market – India.

In partnership with Foxconn Technology Group, Xiaomi is expected to begin to manufacture smartphones for the Indian market at Foxconn’s Andhra Pradesh facility. Xiaomi has made the Indian market a top priority over the past year, but this represents a significant shift in the company’s supply chain, which is tightly controlled and centered in China. The company has already begun production of the Redmi 2 Prime budget smartphone, the company’s top-selling product in India.

They are not the only ones, however. Lenovo announced that it has started assembling Lenovo and Motorola smartphones in Chennai in partnership with Flextronics International. The company is expected to produce 6 million units over the next 12 months and is estimated to expand that production to between 12 and 14 million units in the following 12 months.

In addition to Lenovo and Xiaomi, Chinese manufacturer OnePlus and US-based InFocus have also been reported to have partnerships with Foxconn to manufacture phones in India.

Each of these companies is taking somewhat of a risk in their supply chain to gain better responsiveness in the Indian market. It’s clear that each believes that the market’s current explosive growth is not going to level off any time soon, and brands that can build into the market relatively early have a good chance at becoming a dominant brand for some time.