According to a report published by CyberMedia Research (CMR), Samsung, Intex and Rising Star were the top three Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in India during Q4, 2016. While Samsung and Intex manufacture and market devices under their own respective brands, Rising Star is the largest contract manufacturer in India, manufacturing phones for ASUS, Gionee, InFocus, Microsoft, OPPO and Xiaomi. Reports in the Indian media claim that as of Q4, 2016, there are 48 OEMs and 3rd-party manufacturers that make mobile handsets in India, while another 140 ODMs (Original Design Manufacturers) sell their products to various domestic and international companies marketing smartphones in the country under their own brands. Some of the leading 3rd-party ODMs in the country include Shenzhen Tecno Technology that supply to Itel and Shenzhen Benavi Electronics, which supply its products to Micromax and Zen.
With an increasing number of global smartphone vendors starting to sell locally-manufactured devices in the country following the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, only about one in three handsets sold in the country today are believed to be imported from abroad, with the rest manufactured in Indian factories. According to research analysts at CMR, that ratio is likely to get even better in the coming days when Apple is expected to start selling India-manufactured iPhones in the country. While the Cupertino, California-based tech giant is yet to verify those rumors officially, reports in the Indian media over the past few months seem to suggest that Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn is most likely to bag the contract to manufacture iPhones in India.
According to CMR, Intex leads the entry-level segment for devices costing up to Rs. 4,000 ($60). Samsung is on top in the Rs. 4,000 – Rs. 8,000 ($60 – $120) range, as well as between Rs. 15,000 – Rs. 20,000 ($225 – $300). Rising Star leads in the Rs. 10,000 – Rs. 15,000 ($150 – $225) range, while Foxconn subsidiary Hong Fu Ji Precision Electronics is leading in the Rs. 20,000+ ($300) category. The CMR report also notes that domestic brands in the country have been on a downward spiral of late thanks to the advent of a number of aggressive Chinese brands, and suggests that the problem could only be solved by bringing design and engineering to India as well, alongside manufacturing.
