The company is also strategizing to bring 5G to the mass market
Finnish mobile manufacturer HMD Global, best known for manufacturing and selling Nokia mobile phones, is eyeing to make India an export hub in the future and is in close collaboration with Indian electronics manufacturing services (EMS) companies for the same, as per a senior company official.
“India is a priority market for us, not just from fans and from a marketing point of view but also from a production and manufacturing point of view. We are already manufacturing 100 per cent of our devices that we are selling today in India, and starting from last year, we are working closely with some of the Indian EMS partners,” HMD Global Vice-President Sanmeet Kochhar said.
HMD Global CEO Florian Seiche said, “Definitely, there is an (export) potential that we are strongly looking at. But, right now, our focus is on broadening the partnerships and strengthening those in India, because obviously, we still have a lot of opportunity in India to capitalise on. But, then once this is in place, we for sure would love to also utilise this, even for export purposes.”
Roadmap for 5G devices
The current trend of various mobile manufacturers and telecom businesses venturing into the 5G market has definitely not gone unnoticed by HMD Global, with Seiche adding that the company strategises to bring 5G to the mass market.
The company also looks to provide devices that are future-proof, offering monthly Android updates and two years of OS updates, added Seiche, so that users do not have to worry about the security of their devices.
“So, even if 5G network only goes live at the end of this year, if you have to decide today (to buy a Nokia device)…as soon as that 5G network goes live, you automatically benefit from that,” he said.
PLI Benefit
Notably, the government has introduced a PLI scheme offering incentives to companies manufacturing smartphones in the country, aiming to boost the electronics manufacturing industry in India.
“To that extent, we started last year with Indian EMS suppliers and we have now a few for our phones which are manufactured by India EMS partners.”
Adding that the company is looking at opportunities to work in collaboration with Indian suppliers and the country’s government to figure out how it can set up a manufacturing base in the country, Kochhar said, “We are working with them closely to see how we can get the PLI (production-linked incentive) benefit, which the government of India has rolled out.”
