India producing 100 million phones
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced that India's mobile phone production has increased to 100 million mobile sets per year in 2015 from 68 million in 2014. He also announced that Rs.1,14,000 crore worth of investments came to India in Dec'15 in electronics manufacturing. The new investments have created 30,000 jobs in the country and state governments are eager to attract more investments.
Import forms major part of mobile phones market
The domestic mobile handset market in India is estimated at Rs.75,000 crore, out of which handsets worth Rs.58,550 crore are imported.
Task force to stimulate mobile manufacturing
The Department of Electronics and Information Technology formed a task force to revive mobile manufacturing in India. The task force, headed by Pankaj Mohindroo (President, Indian Cellular Association), sought to increase the number of mobile units manufactured in India to 500,000,000 by 2019 and create 1.5 million jobs. It would also explore opportunities to increase exports from 30 million (2014) to 120 million (2019).
Mobile phone exports decline from India
Mobile phone exports from India had fallen from $3.4 billion in 2009 to $2.28 billion in 2013. This translated to a drop in India's position from being the 7th largest mobile phone exporter in 2009 to 14th in 2013.
Chinese mobile makers excited about 'Make in India'
Chinese mobile manufacturers have expressed interest to invest in India. According to Mr Wu, founder and CEO, Mobile World (Shoujibao) Shenzhen, India's population, huge market and the Make in India initiative are their primary drivers to invest in India. Mobile phone manufacturers may invest around $2-3 billion in coming 2-3 years. India is the fastest growing mobile phone market but imports significantly from China.
Huge market for smartphones in the world
According to reseach firm Gartner, total mobile shipments in the world will increase to 1.96 billion in 2016 of which more than 80% will be smartphones.
The Indian advantage
India is likely to become the world's second largest smartphone market by 2017. With 65% of India's population below 35 years, it not only has a large pool of software engineers but also a huge market. India's hourly labor rates are less than half of China's labor rates. The government is focusing on 'Make in India' to promote manufacturing in India.
Oppo to produce 10 million units per year
Chinese mobile phone company Oppo, which has sold 40 million mobile handsets in China, would invest Rs.100 crore in India to set up a manufacturing unit. The unit would produce 10 million mobile phones a year. According to Oppo's Global VP Sky Li , the manufacturing facility may start as early as Aug'16. Oppo currently gets its units manufactured at Foxconn's factory in India.
