India wants to challenge China in the mobile phone market
The Indian mobile phone market has been dominated by Chinese-made phones for a long time. But now Indian mobile phone manufacturers are trying to enter the Chinese market. But 60 percent or more of the mobile phones sold in India are Chinese. So Indian companies have a long way to go to challenge them. But Indian companies hope that they can one day build a world-class mobile phone industry in their own country.
According to a study, 60 percent of the mobile phones sold in India in 2022 were made in China. But this number is four percent less than a year ago. Chinese phones sold in India accounted for 64 percent in 2021. The reason for this is that Indian mobile manufacturers have started to set their teeth in this market.
One company challenging the dominance of Chinese phones in the Indian market is Micromax Informatics. They entered the mobile phone market in 2008. But within two years they had become one of India's largest manufacturers of cheap phones—so-called 'feature' phones. But despite Micromax's growth, its co-founder Rajesh Agarwal admits that it is very difficult to compete with Chinese smartphone makers.
Aggarwal says that when his company launches a new phone, they expect it to sell roughly 1 million units. But a Chinese company sells 10 times that, a crore or more phones. As a result, they can keep the price of each phone very cheap.
Agarwal also says that Chinese companies have very strong manufacturing systems and can source almost all of their phone components from local sources.
The problem is that mobile phone parts like chargers, cables or batteries are made in India, but the complex parts like computer chips or screens are almost all made abroad. It's just the beginning when it comes to manufacturing—Agarwal says India will have to make all mobile phone components domestically.
He also says that the goal should not only be to meet the domestic demand, but also to enter the global market of devices like phones, laptops, tablets.
Based on such thoughts, the Indian government also took an initiative in April 2021. A scheme called Production Linked Incentive or PLI has been undertaken which aims to boost manufacturing across India, including telecom and networking equipment. This PLI is also subsidizing mobile phone components if they are made in India. Currently 15 to 20 percent of the components of an Indian mobile phone are manufactured in India. PLI aims to take this ratio to 35 to 40 percent. Pankaj Mohindru, chairman of ICEA, India's cellular and electronics association, says mobile phone manufacturing in India is growing rapidly, and has now become the second largest handset manufacturer in the world.
Lava International is an Indian mobile phone manufacturing company. Its chairman Hari Om Rai says India will become a global hub for phone manufacturing in the future. Because, he says, China is getting richer, wages are rising, and they are losing their price advantage. Apart from that, some of the world's biggest firms are becoming worried about being more dependent on Chinese products, says Mr. Rye. According to him, if these firms want to move to any other country, then India will be an attractive option. However, Mumbai's Deepa Aswani is not worried about this. He said, 'I don't care where my smartphone is made. I am a buyer. I have the features of the phone and its price. Both of these are most important. He said.
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