China’s Huawei to assemble smartphones in India with partner Flex
Expansion follows the rush of other Chinese brands into the world’s second-biggest smartphone market
Huawei Technologies plans to start production of its smartphones in India by the end of September, joining the expansion of other Chinese brands in the world’s second-biggest market for the devices.
The Shenzhen-based company’s foray into the market will be in partnership with contract electronics manufacturer Flex, formerly known as Flextronics International.
Industry sources said on Monday that a formal announcement of the initiative, which was first reported by Indian media, will be made at the end of this week.
Beset by slow growth in their home market, many Chinese smartphone suppliers have ramped up their operations in India as the country’s appetite for advanced, low-cost smartphones has grown in the past few years.
Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment supplier, will have its smartphones assembled by Flex at a plant near Chennai, where the Nasdaq-listed company already manufactures smartphones for Lenovo Group, including its Motorola brand, according to Indian media.
Huawei and Flex declined to comment when contacted by the South China Morning Post.
“Huawei may begin with a [smartphone production] capacity of 200,000 units a month, but it can scale up rapidly as the plant has enough capacity to take on more orders,” a person with knowledge of the matter told both The Financial Express and Economic Times on Saturday.