About 99% of phones Xiaomi sold in India were made in the country, says COO

Xiaomi phones in India are manufactured mainly by Taiwanese giant Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd.

Business Standard : Almost all of the phones that Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi sells in India are made in the country, a top company executive said here on Monday, stressing that 'make in India' Xiaomi smartphones are now being exported to other countries too, though at a small scale.

'About 99 per cent of the phones sold in India are made in the country. We make three phones per second,' Muralikrishnan B, Chief Operating Officer, Xiaomi India, told reporters. Xiaomi phones in India are manufactured mainly by Taiwanese giant Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd.

The manufacturing is being done at Xiaomi's two facilities -- one at the Sri City special economic zone in Andhra Pradesh and the other at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.

Xiaomi said it has also started exporting phones made in India to Bangladesh and Nepal.

'We have started exporting to these two countries at a small scale. With more government incentives, we plan to scale up the export of 'make in India' phones,' Muralikrishnan noted.

'We will have to see if we can manage the entire logistics. Ultimately, we will have to realise that cost efficiency also matters,' he added.

The COO of India's biggest smartphone seller said that there are various issues hindering export of its 'make in India' products to other countries including certification issues and low rate of duty drawbacks.

'BIS certification is not accepted in many parts of the world. If the government can make BIS certification accepted in countries in Europe, it would help us scale,' he said, adding that India has a lot to learn from Vietnam in terms of incentivising domestic manufacturing.

About 65 per cent of Xiaomi phone components are also sourced from within the country.

'In terms of manufacturing, the progress that India has made in the past 5 years is phenomenal,' said Foxconn India Country Manager Josh Foulger.

Besides initiatives under 'Make in India', the corporate tax relief and improvement in ease of doing business have helped a lot, he added.Significantly, all the operators at Foxconn's Sri City facility for Xiaomi are women. The facility employs over 15,000 people.

Top Xiaomi executive trolled by users for using fake pic to promote POCO F1

The image was apparently shot by Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S smartphone as it had the 'Mi 2S' watermark at the bottom left corner of the snap, found the Reddit users.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi's Global Spokesperson Donovan Sung was left embarrassed for reportedly posting a fake camera sample image on his Instagram account to promote the newly-launched POCO F1.

Users on social news aggregation and discussion platform Reddit shared the image which Sung shared on his Instagram account, claiming it was captured by POCO F1.

However, the image was apparently shot by Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S smartphone as it had the "Mi 2S" watermark at the bottom left corner of the snap, found the Reddit users.

After facing criticism, Sung removed the photo. Xiaomi was yet to respond to this controversy.

In a similar instance, Huawei was recently caught when an actress from one of its commercials showcasing its new Nova 3 smartphone posted behind-the-scene photos on Instagram, revealing a DSLR camera being used to take selfies and not the smartphone.

A Reddit user that goes by the name of AbdullahSab3 discovered that Sarah Elshamy, one of the actors in the ad, posted photos on her Instagram page, and one image revealed a photographer shooting the "at-home selfie with a DSLR".

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Pocophone brand is Xiaomi's answer to OnePlus, Samsung in premium segment

The Poco brand is expected to add a touch of premium to the portfolio of parent Xiaomi, known mostly for its budget and midrange smartphones.

Poco, the newly announced sub-brand of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi, is gearing up to make its India debut soon with the launch of a smartphone, likely to be named the Pocophone F1. The Poco brand is expected to add a touch of premium to the portfolio of parent Xiaomi, known mostly for its budget and midrange smartphones.

In a recent media interaction, Xiaomi India Managing Director Manu Kumar Jain said that the company had been working on a premium smartphone, which would not be from the company’s existing portfolio but a new offering designed specifically for Indian consumers. The phone is said to have premium looks, features and specifications. However, as informed by Jain, it will be a device for masses, and therefore, a reasonable price tag.

ALSO READ: Waiting for Xiaomi flagship smartphone? Won't take long, says India MD Jain

Jai Mani, head of products at Xiaomi, and the mind behind Poco, recently posted a tweet detailing information about the new brand. According to Mani, Poco is a project initiated with support from the Xiaomi team to make powerful smartphones. It is a small outfit that will create premium products and use Xiaomi’s resources such as supply chain, operations and service infrastructure to deliver the final products.

He added, “the pace of innovation in smartphone industry has slowed down, while prices are creeping up with flagship smartphones now past the $1000 mark. We set out to build something to buck this trend.”

Though Mani’s tweet was more about the brand, it did not provide any specifics about the first India-bound premium smartphone. However, another tweet from Poco Twitter handle confirmed that the phone would feature Qualcomm chipset, likely to be flagship Snapdragon 845 system-on-chip. Other details such as camera, battery, screen, RAM, storage and price remains speculative.

Based on a leak shared by online technology portal mysmartprice, the PocoPhone F1 would sport a 5.99-inch fullHD+ display, 4000mAh battery, 12-megapixel and 5MP dual rear cameras, 20MP selfie camera and fingerprint sensor on the back. The phone is expected to get three RAM and internal storage configurations -- 6GB/64GB, 6GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB. It is also reported to come in four colour options – red, grey, blue and gradient, and Kevlar.

As for the price and launch, the phone is expected to be priced at around Rs 34,000 and launch on September 30.

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