Xiaomi ramps up local production of smartphones and smart TVs
In a virtual briefing on Thursday, Chinese conglomerate Xiaomi announced that it is expanding manufacturing for smartphones and smart TVs in India. The company named China's BYD and DBG Technology as its new manufacturing partners for smartphones in India. It said that Hyderabad-based Radiant Technology is its newest production partner for smart TVs. Xiaomi said it is ramping up local component sourcing as well.
BYD will set up a plant in Tamil Nadu. It will begin manufacturing smartphones in the first half of 2021. Meanwhile, DBG already has a fully-functional smartphone plant in Bawal, Haryana. Xiaomi said partnering with DBG has increased the monthly production capacity by 20 percent. BYD focuses on automobiles, electronics, and rail transit, while DBG supplied telecom equipment to Huawei in the past.
Talking about component sourcing and manufacturing, Xiaomi VP and India CEO Manu Kumar Jain said that a "majority" are produced locally and contribute more than 75 percent of the value of smartphones. Jain did not provide the exact number of components being produced locally. Furthermore, he did not reveal whether key components are being sourced from China, which seems to be the case.
Xiaomi began manufacturing smart TVs in India after partnering with Dixon in October 2018. Radiant Technology is its newest production partner for televisions. The company also has manufacturing facilities in Telangana. In the briefing, Xiaomi claimed that it is selling 100 percent made-in-India smart TVs in the country. The company says this was made possible by its partnership with Radiant Technology.
Additionally, Xiaomi claims this new partnership will increase its extended workforce to 60,000 this year from 50,000. Its local manufacturing started with Foxconn in August 2015. Later, it partnered with Flex for smartphone production. In 2019, the company claimed that 99 percent of its smartphones sold were produced locally. Jain explained that small quantities were still being imported for initial sales.
