LeEco, the Chinese technology giant, has announced its initiative to Make in India. At a press conference held in New Delhi, the company's initiative was announced by Atul Jain, COO, in presence of Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology.
The company initially plans to make its smartphones in India out of the component assembly plant in Greater Noida. The present component plant has seen an investment of $5 million by the company, and has one production chain capable of making 60,000 smartphone units every month. By the end of 2016, LeEco aims to increase the numbers up to two production lines and 200,000 units every month.
The company has also stated that alongside making smartphones in India, it also aims to use its facilities to export smartphone units out of India. The company is introducing its products to international markets as Russia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and the United States of America. "This will allow us to reap the full benefits of the new GST norms set in India," Jain stated.
While LeEco also sells its televisions and related accessories in India, the company will focus on making only smartphones in India. The employment opportunities created by this move will be filled up by a share of skilled as well as unskilled labour, and like other companies that have joined the Make in India bandwagon, component making and engineering remains out of the frame for now.
Addressing the attendees at LeEco's Make in India launch, Union Telecom Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad stated that 38 companies have joined the Make in India platform till now, and the plants have been established all over India, including Videocon in West Bengal, Xiaomi in Telengana, and plants have even been established in Jammu. Noida and Greater Noida leads the forefront of production and assembly lines in India, and all of this has been a pivotal reason for the smartphone boom in the country. "For Q2 2016, while developed countries have seen smartphone growth of 4.4℅, developing nations apart from India have grown by 9℅, and India leads the list internationally with 15℅ growth," Prasad said.
LeEco revealed positive results of its sales in India, with its lineup of 'Superphones' that include the LeEco Le 2 and Le Max2. The company also stated the success of the LeEco Le 1s, the predecessor to the Le 2, and hopes to carry forward its ventures in India with the new initiative.