Can India challenge China’s IoT hardware dominance? Bengaluru startup Cionlabs believes it can, with locally designed modules and a strategy to disrupt imported ‘black box’ solutions.
A five-year-old Indian startup, Cionlabs, is quietly challenging the dominance of Chinese Internet of Things (IoT) suppliers in the domestic market. Unlike most competitors that rely on imported ‘black box’ solutions, Cionlabs designs every component of its IoT modules in India, from printed circuit board (PCB) layouts and radio-frequency (RF) calibration to firmware and cloud integration.
“The market is dominated by the Chinese supply chain, and if we have to beat it, we have to be a part of it,” said Dr Sanjay Ahuja, Founder and CEO, Cionlabs. “Our goal is to give Indian clients full ownership of the product, with solutions that fit the domestic environment, network challenges, and pricing expectations,” he noted.
The company claims its modules are cheaper and more capable than Chinese alternatives, offering features such as improved mesh connectivity and offline AI capabilities. “Customers increasingly want to move away from fully Chinese solutions, seeking products with local IP, complete control, and end-to-end support. We can offer these advantages while keeping costs competitive, challenging the perception that Indian-made IoT products are always more expensive than Chinese alternatives,” added Sanjay.
Cionlabs is building a factory in Bengaluru, expanding its in-house design capabilities, and strategically using a hybrid manufacturing model that includes domestic and international printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) partners to enhance scalability. “To beat the Chinese supply chain, we need to combine global partnerships with local design and manufacturing,” Sanjay said.
But how to beat the price of Chinese products? To this, Sanjay added, “People believe Indian products are expensive compared to China, but we, being a technology provider, know where to cut down the cost, and that’s how we bring it to a level where we can compete with the Chinese supply chain.”
The move signals a shift in India’s IoT ecosystem, where domestic companies are now building end-to-end solutions instead of importing finished modules, challenging the long-held perception that India cannot compete with Chinese hardware suppliers.
With intellectual property (IP)-owned modules, patents in progress for hybrid mesh technology, and a factory about to go online, CION Labs looks to position itself as India’s answer to Chinese dominance in IoT, offering both competitive pricing and local support for clients across the country.
