Popular Chinese brand Xiaomi might soon start the production of its smartphone lineups right at the heart of India. The rumor surfaced after a Chinese OEM, Inventec, leased a factory in Chennai.
The company previously announced that it would start Research and Development (R&D) in Bangalore, which makes it more plausible that Xiaomi might be planning to produce its upcoming phones from the same country. If established, the R&D center in Bangalore will be the first facility out of Xiaomi’s home country, China.
According to sources, the idle factory that Inventec leased was previously used by another mobile phone company, Nokia. With Inventec taking over the factory, Xiaomi will be able to manufacture smartphones in Chennai.
Xiaomi has been seeing tremendous success after it ventured into India. The company has been selling large number of smartphones to Indian customers. However, the company could sell even more smartphones if it had not been for the shortage of supply.
By setting up R&D department and production plants in the country, Xiaomi can make much more units of its smartphones and meet the growing demand in 2015. In addition to R&D and production plans, the company could also start its own e-commerce portal to sell smartphones directly to Indian customers without relying on Flipkart.
Up until now, Xiaomi has been selling smartphones in flash sales model. Flash sale is a pre-scheduled period when registered users get a chance to buy smartphones from Flipkart. All of the flash sales have lasted only a few seconds, making it extremely difficult and a matter of luck for customers to get their hands on a Xiaomi device.
Xiaomi has recently launched its new flagship phone, Xiaomi Mi4 in India, nearly a year after the phone’s original launch in China. Other popular phones from Xiaomi include Xiaomi Redmi 1s and Redmi Note 4G.
It is neither official nor confirmed when Xiaomi may start producing smartphones in India. But according to industry sources, it’s almost certain that the company will do so at the soonest possible time to meet the ever-rising demand of its smartphones in the country.
