- Flipkart plans to launch Nokia-branded smart TVs in India soon, which will entirely be manufactured in India by third-party vendors.
- India’s smart TV market is getting increasingly competitive with OnePlus launching its smart TV is September and Huawei expected to enter the market next year.
- Currently, Xiaomi leads with 39% market share for smart TVs in India.
As per the deal, Flipkart has a lot of third party vendors, who will manufacture the TVs for them — all of whom are based in India, sources told Business Insider.
“Flipkart will leverage its understanding of the needs of Indian consumers to develop, facilitate the manufacturing and distribution of the Nokia branded smart TVs, while managing the end-to-end go-to-market strategy,” stated the company.
Skipping over LED and OLED TVs
Flipkart also brought the South Korean company, Harman on board, and will be using JBL’s audio equipment for its smart TVs. This is the first time that Nokia and JBL are venturing into the TV segment.
Flipkart is counting on the reputation of these brands for quality and reliability to establish the new smart TVs in a market that’s set to boom. Experts believe that Indians are skipped over the LED/OLED TV phase and are jumping directly from CRTs — the older and bulkier TVs — to smart TVs.
The International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that smart TVs account for 40% of total TV shipments to India growing at a healthy annual rate of 55%. The central government also removed the 5% import duty on open-cell LCD TV panels. This is a huge relief for brands as the panels make up for 70% of the assembly cost.
India’s smart TV market getting more competitive
Indian market however is brimming with multiple brands. Xiaomi priced its products aggressively and has gained a lead over other brands. The Chinese brand known for its budget smartphones, currently commands 39% of the smart TV market share in the country, according to IDC. LG, Sony and Samsung trail behind with 15%, 14% and 12% market share, respectively.
OnePlus recently joined the ranks after launching two smart TVs — the OnePlus TV Q1 and Q1 Pro in September, earlier this year.
Huawei, another Chinese brand, plans to launch its own smart TV in India next year. The only catch is that it won’t run on Google’s Android TV operating system but on Harmony OS built in-house by the company. The company unveiled its design shortly after the OnePlus launch.
Nokia will be one amongst the many, but hopes to make a mark. “Nokia is a globally popular technology brand and enjoys immense brand recall, so we’re excited to start this journey with them to extend the brand into a fast-growing product segment,” said Adarsh Menon, senior vice president at Flipkart in a statement.
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