So far, the SMT manufacturing has focused on smartphone production, but very soon, a similar uptake in feature phone segment is also expected.
With the government’s “Make in India” push, the country witnessed the setting up of over 150 mobile handset manufacturing units in the past four years, according to a new report from CyberMedia Research (CMR).
At the end of Q4 2018, CKD (completely knocked down) manufacturing stood at 57 percent while SKD (semi knocked down) manufacturing stood at around 39 percent, according to CMR’s India Mobile Handset Market Review Report for 2018. The share of CBUs (completely built units) was four percent, the findings showed.
With the intent to foster electronics manufacturing in India, the government introduced the Phased Manufacturing Program (PMP). By subjecting imports of electronic components to duties, the intent for PMP was to boost local manufacturing using local components.
Sunny days ahead
Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, in a statement said that as a result of government’s proactive policy push of using import duties to catalyse investments into mobile phone manufacturing, India is witnessing an increase in domestic mobile handset manufacturing.
He further anticipated that so far, the SMT manufacturing has focused on smartphone production, but very soon, a similar uptake in feature phone segment is also expected. He predicted that the feature phone segment, over the short-term, will see new players, beyond Samsung, taking-up SMT manufacturing.
The top five original design manufacturers (ODMs) in Q4 2018 included Flextronics, Samsung, Rising Stars Mobile, Hipad Technology and Vivo, said the report.
