Huawei, China’s largest smartphone maker, will soon begin manufacturing phones in India, which sees a fast growing smartphone market.
“We have already obtained licences for manufacturing and will, in the short-term, announce the local manufacturing plan…within a month,” said Peter Zhai, president of Huawei’s Indian business consumer group.
India’s Economic Times reported the launch conference of Huawei P9 smartphone in New Delhi India on Wednesday.
Huawei is the latest tech giant to go to India; others include Xiaomi, APUS, and Cheetah Mobile.
Chinese analysts suggested three main reasons why Chinese tech companies are passionate about Indian market.
1.The China market is saturated
The Smartphone market in China is getting saturated. China saw smartphone shipments of over 430 million phones in 2015, according to American research firm IDC. The battle among smartphone makers has now become very fierce in China.
2.Fast-growing India market
India is among the fastest growing smartphone markets, with massive potential: It is the second most populous country in the world, yet India’s smartphone penetration rate in the spring of 2015 was about 17% in 2015, in contrast to a rate of 58% in China, according to Pew Research Center.
3. Modi’s Made in India policy
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Made in India program in 2014, aiming to transform India into a global manufacturing center. The program opens sectors for investment and encourages global companies to build manufacturing sites in India.
Huawei’s flagship P9 smartphone was priced at INR 39,999 (USD 598) in India.
(Top photo from Baidu Images)