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"All
our handsets are made in China and then shipped to India. So,
making them locally will help reaching our Indian customers
faster," Chief Executive Pete Lau told reporters in a conference
on Monday.
India, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has sought to reboot
manufacturing, but the country is yet to rival China,
particularly in technology where most factories will likely be
assembly units to begin with.
Foxconn, the world's biggest contract manufacturer for
electronic parts, has said it is aiming to develop 10-12
facilities in India, including factories and data centers by
2020.
"India being one of our biggest markets worldwide, we are
committed to a long term sustainable growth path. This move will
strengthen our presence and help us step up momentum in India,"
Lau said.
A growing middle class and an expected surge in the use of
mobile data in the coming months have turned India into a
lucrative market for Chinese players.
India is the fastest growing smartphone market in the world, but
most Indians are first time user, preferring cheaper
alternatives to iPhones or higher end Samsung devices.
Local production of OnePlus' upcoming devices will start before
end of this year, the company said, with a peak capacity of
producing up to 500,000 units per month.
Rivals such as Oppo and Xiaomi have already announced plans to
manufacture in the country.
India has the second-highest number of mobile phone accounts
behind China. According to networking solutions company Cisco
Systems, there will be 650 million smartphones in the country by
2019.
(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru, Writing by
Nivedita Bhattacharjee; Editing by Anand Basu)
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