Huawei plans to Make in India

Chinese handset maker Huawei will join the upsurge of Chinese companies making in India as it is considering manufacturing its smartphones in India.

"We have started seriously evaluating about local products. We are discussing domestic manufacturing internally," Zhao Gang, vice president of Huawei's Honor International Business, told ET. He was speaking on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi to launch the Honor 7 smartphone this week.

Huawei has a facility in Chennai, which is currently being used to manufacture telecom network equipment for the Indian market. In July, the company got the home ministry's approval to set up a unit to produce electronic or telecom hardware and support services, including trading and logistics activities, at the SIPCOT Special Economic Zone in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur.

India is the most important market for the Honor smartphone brand globally, Zhao said. More than 300 engineers at the company's research centre in Bengaluru are currently working on Honor handsets, including on customising the smartphone for the Indian market.

Huawei's Bengaluru R&D (research & development) centre is its largest outside China. The facility houses 3,000 of the about 7,000 engineers it employs globally.

Huawei's Honor brand sold 20 million handsets globally last year, and its target is to double that number this year. The brand has a presence in 57 markets.

In India, the Honor phones are currently available only on online marketplace Flipkart. The company plans to soon start selling the brand through offline retailers as well. Rivals like Motorola and Xiaomi are also tapping into the offline business. Gionee, which has been selling devices only via offline stores, is now using the online route as well.

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