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<ul><li>Rather than launching a flagship device, HTC is going up against Xiaomi and Samsung in the entry-level segment. </li><li>The phone only has HTC branding and has been manufactured by <keyword id="7984595" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="inone-smart-technologies">InOne Smart Technologies</keyword> — the company that makes <keyword id="1922766" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lava-phones">Lava phones</keyword>. </li><li>The Wildfire X will be available on sale for ₹9,999 exclusively on Flipkart starting 22 August.</li></ul>HTC is back in the Indian smartphone market with the launch of their new device, the <keyword id="7983469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="htc-wildfire-x">HTC Wildfire X</keyword>. Rather than going with a flagship launch and advertising its strongest features — like others brands — HTC has gone for a muted approach with an entry level device at the price of ₹9,999. The phone isn't even made by HTC, according to <a href="https://www.xda-developers.com/lava-htc-wildfire-x-india-launch/">XDA Developers</a>. Instead, the company that makes <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/micromax-intex-lava-making-samsung-and-apple-sweat-it-out/articleshow/48388494.cms">Lava phones</a> — InOne Smart Technology — has acquired the license to manufacture HTC-branded phones in India. The phone will available for purchase starting 22 August exclusively on Flipkart. And, as a Flipkart exclusive phone, HTC seems to have missed another opportunity by not launching a flagship phone. Flipkart's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/amazon-vs-flipkart-house-of-flagships-for-new-smartphones-in-india/articleshow/69408528.cms">House of Flagships</a> endeavour would ideally give HTC more visibility on the platform — especially since HTC was known for its flagship devices during its golden years. HTC Wildfire X features that fail to impress It should be noted that Xiaomi's already corners the majority market share for entry-level and budget smartphones so in order to have a foothold, HTC's device should measure up to Xiaomi's value for money. But even that doesn't seem to be the case with the phones adequate but unimpressive specifications. HTC's Wildfire X is powered by MediaTek's Helio P22 chipset and a 3,300 mAh battery. There's a triple camera set up in the back — a 12-megapixel main camera lens, an 8-megapixel secondary wide angle lens, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor — as well as an 8-megapixel front camera. The Wildfire X also retains the 3.5mm headphone jack and has a USB Type-C port for charging. But it's display is a mere 720p rather than at least Full HD or Full HD Plus like on most smartphone devices these days. The phone's saving grace is that it at least runs on Android 9 Pie. The base model with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage costs ₹9,999 and its upgraded variant with has 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage costs ₹12,999. In comparison, Xiaomi's Redmi Note 7S house a more powerful processor — the Snapdragon 660 — a bigger battery, a 48-megapixel primary camera as well as Full HD Plus display for ₹11,743 on Flipkart. Even Realme 3i and Samsung's Galaxy M20, both under ₹10,000, offer more value for money. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/best-samsung-phones-under-10000-in-india/articleshow/69752354.cms">Best Samsung phones under ₹ 10,000</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/best-phone-under-10000-in-india/articleshow/69735341.cms">Best phones under ₹10,000 in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/best-camera-phones-under-10000-in-india/articleshow/69723186.cms">Best camera phones under ₹ 10,000 in India</a>

The maker of Lava phones has quietly brought HTC back to India — but with a phone that fails to impress

Handset makers such as <keyword id="10591" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Samsung">Samsung</keyword> and <keyword id="71696" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Micromax">Micromax</keyword> have doubled their imports of semi-knocked down (SKD) mobile phone units into India in June. <keyword id="2582251" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cybex-Exim-Solutions">Cybex Exim Solutions</keyword>, which exclusively shared its data with ET, has said that Samsung and Micromax have imported 6.9 million SKD mobile phone units in the last month, more than double the 3.4 million units of imports in the same month last year. 

	The cause behind the increase was the government's decision to change the import duty structure, which made the assembling of phones cheaper than importing them in the country.
 

	In the quarter to June, import of SKD units jumped 64% year-on-year to 18.14 million, while sequentially, SKD shipments soared 55%, reported the financial daily.
 Meanwhile, assembling is considered as the first step towards complete local manufacturing, a desire expressed by most of the top handset vendors such as <keyword id="874458" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Xiaomi">Xiaomi</keyword>, Micromax, Lava, Intex, Sony, <keyword id="6356116" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="LG">LG</keyword>, <keyword id="16129" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="HTC">HTC</keyword> and Asus. 

	Market leader Samsung has also talked about expanding its current production capacity, besides setting up a new factory.
 

	SKD imports of the South Korean company, which now assembles all of its locally-sold phones at its Noida plant, crossed 4.2 million units last month. It has been importing on an average 3.4 million SKD mobile phone units a month. 
 Imports of SKD units by Micromax, India's No 2 handset player, have surged 10 times over the last year. "Local manufacturing makes us stronger as a brand in competition without doubt," Micromax chief executive officer <keyword id="127875" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Vineet-Taneja">Vineet Taneja</keyword> said. "I feel a lot more confident today because we're able to deliver with great efficiency and speed and better prices than before." 

	According to data, the company assembled more than 1 million smartphones in June. 
 <keyword id="6354671" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Foxconn">Foxconn</keyword>, the world's largest contract manufacturer, sees a huge opportunity in India following the changes in the import duty structure. The company, famous for making <keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword> iPhones and iPads, plans to invest over $2 billion in setting up 10-12 factories for manufacturing smartphones and consumer electronics by 2020. 

	"Local manufacturing makes a significant impact on bottom line and to remain aggressive in the competitive market," said Gartner's research director Anshul Gupta. "In a highly competitive market with low margins, difference in import duty warrants for local manufacturing." 
 

	Intex, Lava and Karbonn, which were mainly importing all their products, are increasing local assembly by the month. Intex has increased production by four times since it started local assembly in November 2014. 
	 
	(Image: Indiatimes)

Expect a big take off in cellphone assembling! Imports of semi-knocked down devices up 64%

The last quarter of 2014 was a correction phase wherein the Smart Phone market declined by 4% while the Feature Phone market plummeted by approximately 14% over Q3 2014.The overall mobile phone market stood at 64.3 million units in <keyword id="44708" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Q4">Q4</keyword> 2014, which reflects a sequential drop of 11% over Q3 2014 and an annual drop of 5%. 
 The study conducted by <keyword id="668267" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="International-Data-Corporation">International Data Corporation</keyword> (<keyword id="6377157" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="IDC">IDC</keyword>) India Smart Phone market observed shipment contraction in Q4 for the first time ever (quarter on quarter basis). This was largely owing to a high channel inventory at the beginning of the quarter amongst general trade which in turn was caused by the surge witnessed in online sales during festive season. 
 
Feature Phone to Smart Phone migration trend is clearly visible. Smart Phones formed a healthy 35% of the overall mobile business in Q4 2014, which is up by 13% from a year ago i.e. Q4 2013. 
 
“Smart Phone vendors are quick in gauging the consumer demand for 4G handsets. In percentage terms, 4G handsets are still in single digit. But vendors who are not yet ready with the 4G portfolio are likely to miss the next wave of Smart Phone growth story.” says Karan Thakkar, Senior Market Analyst, IDC India. 
 Shipment contribution from vendors like Asus, Microsoft and <keyword id="16129" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="HTC">HTC</keyword> has witnessed traction in the recent past. Asus’s growth is somewhat linked to the handset vendor itself. The Zenphone series is always in demand &amp; often the product is out of stock at the retail counter. On the other hand, Microsoft and HTC has more aggressively priced product to offer. 
 
“In the current market scenario there is a drive in demand for products pitched with high specification at low price points. This trend is likely to continue over the next 4 to 6 quarters, post which consumers are expected to turn back to the handset vendors who charge premium for quality,” added Thakkar. 
 
<keyword id="10591" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Samsung">Samsung</keyword>: Samsung maintained its leadership position in Q4 2014. Apple posted stiff competition to Samsung during this time. “Online exclusive” brands are hurting the brand in the value for money category. 
 
Micromax: The brand witnessed an inventory correction in Q4 2014 owing to high inventories pumped into the channels during the previous quarter. 
 
Intex: Intex did not feature in the top five Smart Phone vendor list until Q3 2014, but the swift pace at which brand has clinched on to 3rd spot is commendable. The retail presence of the brand has seen more than a twofold increase. Focused product launches and media advertisements worked well for the brand. 
 
Lava: Lava has slipped to the 4th spot. However, the brand remains consistent and stable with a good amount of visibility of its distributors. 
 
Xiamoi: Xiaomi’s “online only” strategy has paid off well. Q4 was the first complete quarter for the brand. Even with minor hiccups like temporary ban on a particular handset model, the brand made it to top 5 Smart Phone vendor list. 
 
The overall mobile phone market shrank by 11% qurter on quarter. The steep fall can be attributed majorly to the feature phone category. While Karbonn did not make it to the top five vendor list in Smart Phone category, it continues to remain strong in the Feature Phone segment. 
 
A quick look at the overall vendor share shows the strong presence vendors have in the feature phone market to make it in the top five list at an overall level. 
 
 IDC further anticipates a sluggish Q1 2015. However few global vendors which were in the inventory correction phase until now are likely to exhibit big shipment numbers starting Q1. 
 “Operators are gearing up for 4G network rollout. For vendors and ecosystem partners, greater emphasis on 4G enabled handsets at competitive price points will be the order of the day. End-users’ desire to upgrade and keeping abreast with the latest technology, will continue to drive a strong growth for the Smart Phone market in CY 2015,” says <keyword id="26776" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kiran-Kumar">Kiran Kumar</keyword>,Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India.

Samsung leads smartphone market with 43% in last quarter of 2014

This phone has been in the news for quite a few weeks now and we must say that the response to the news of this phone has been mind-boggling. While many loved the idea of a phone inspired by a renowned political figure, many said it’s just a stunt to gain popularity and some even said it was a practical joke and the phone would never come to life. Well, the phone is live and kicking, and it is now available in India. 
 
As most of us know, the phone has nothing to do with any specific political party. However, it has been developed by a group of Modi fans from Gujarat, now based in China. They were kind enough to send a phone over for a review and here is what we could make of it. 
 
Looks To tell you the truth, when we first held the phone, it seemed somewhat inspired by <keyword id="10591" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Samsung">Samsung</keyword> Galaxy S3. They do look similar, but once you start using the <keyword id="1904756" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Saffron-1">Saffron 1</keyword>, you will find subtle dissimilarities between the two. The new device is dressed in white and a nice silver trim runs along the side of the phone. The front part of Saffron 1 has a large 5 inch screen with a 5 MP front-facing camera above it and the usual feather <keyword id="30450" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="40" keywordseo="Touch">touch</keyword> navigation keys at the bottom. 
 
 
 
The rear of the phone hides a large loudspeaker behind a meshed grille at the bottom and a 13 MP camera with LED flash on top. The power and volume keys are placed on the right side of the phone, all of which can be easily accessed using one hand. 
 
Performance The group of Modi fans have put some decent hardware within this mobile. It has a 1.5 GHz quad-core CPU, 1 GB RAM (which we think is slightly less) and 16 GB storage. A custom UI skin has been used over the <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword> 4.2.1 operating system. It does give the phone a distinct feel and the interface is slick to manoeuvre. However, we did get a bit of a lag when we played high-end games and apps. Primarily, the RAM can be blamed for this and the phone could do better with another GB of it. 
 
 
 Barring that, rest of the features look fine. The company is providing a lot of nice pre-loaded utility apps, such as the ‘Go’ set of apps. One distinct feature of this phone is the Toucher Pro widget. Turn it on and you will get a circular button on the screen in the form of the <keyword id="14666" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="BJP">BJP</keyword> logo. With this, you can access various functions such as screen brightness, rotation, Wi-Fi and more. 
 We benchmarked the phone with Quadrant (a popular testing tool for Android devices) and it managed to score a decent 4,679. That puts it shoulder to shoulder with phones such as <keyword id="16129" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="HTC">HTC</keyword> One X. The camera quality of the phone is not bad either and one can get good images in well-lit rooms and outdoors. Another point of excellence is the battery (but it has also made the gadget heavier than usual). The phone carries a 3,150 mAh battery, which kept it alive for 2 days on 2G network. 
 
Verdict 
The package is not bad at all. The phone can accommodate 2 SIM cards; the memory can be expanded up to 64 GB and users get most of the features that are only available in the premium segment of international phones. 
 Saffron 1 falls in a category that is already populated with products from Micromax, Karbonn and Lava. We feel the company is banking on <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>’s popularity, which might just be the rocket fuel required for the phone to thrust its way through to the crowds. All in all, a decent phone at a good MRP of Rs 18,000, but one can pick it up for a thousands or two less from the stores.

REVIEW: Saffron 1 Is
A Good Bid For People Who Admire NAMO Or Want A Decent But Less Expensive
Smartphone

Most of the Samsung smartphones that Indians have in their hands today, along with the ones from home-grown brand like Karbonn, Lava or Intex, are being 'Made in India,' with high chances that they were assembled in the <keyword id="18858" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Noida">Noida</keyword>-Greater Noida region, the Uttar Pradesh industrial city neighbouring Delhi. 
 
Last year’s budget announced a 10.5% duty differential between imported devices and the ones made in India, after which Noida became the country’s biggest smartphone hub, being able to make more than 140 million devices per year, a whopping 40% more than what’s needed in a year. 
 
Even though all the critical components of a smartphone, processors for example, still come from China and Taiwan , Noida still remains a key part for the industry, with the local industry giving about 5-8% of value addition at present, which can be taken up to around 35% in coming five years. 
 
It all started with Samsung starting local manufacturing a decade ago, seeding a significant number of smartphone component suppliers from Noida. 
 
"All our mobile phones, from feature phones to the Galaxy S7 that we sell in India, are manufactured at our Noida factory, and we will continue to explore future investment opportunities," a spokesperson for Samsung told TNN. 
 
Now, Noida is home to the units of several Indian brands like Lava, Intex and Karbonn, along with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron, which is making phones for LG, OnePlus, Oppo and HTC in partnership with home-grown telecom retailer and manufacturer Optiemus. Each factory set up in the city creates 3,000-4,000 direct jobs for mostly high-school or ITI graduates. 
 
Even though UP is not generally regarded as the best place to do business, the fact that Noida shares borders with Delhi has helped it bloom. 
 
Now that there are efforts being made to develop R&amp;D and design capabilities in India so that the reliance on partners in China and Taiwan can be lessened, Noida is all set to grow even further. 
 
"Electronics manufacturing is a focus of the government as part of the 'Make in India' initiative. The current investments have resulted in as many as 40,000 direct jobs and over 1.2 lakh indirect employment. We estimate that mobile phone production will reach a level of around 500 million devices by 2019-20," said IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. 
 
<a href="http://www.eyehomz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/welcome-to-noida.jpg">Image source</a>

Delhi’s friendly neighbourhood Noida is now India’s hub for mobile production

At a press conference in New Delhi, <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> unveiled the first series of <keyword id="2373897" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Android-One">Android One</keyword> smartphones in India. Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President for <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword>, Chrome and Apps at Google was there as he was at the Google I/O developer event earlier this year, announcing the Android One initiative to bring a rich Android experience to affordable smartphones. 
 
Android One 
The vision of Android One is to bring stock Android with timely software updates to sub-$100 smartphones. Essentially, it’s Nexus for the masses. 
 
In an aberration from the usual course and like the Nexus and Google Play Edition products, Google will push the Android updates as and when they come instead of the OEMs. The devices will be automatically updated; the box of an Android` One device asserts ‘Always the latest version of Android’. 
 
The Android One devices will include support for seven additional languages including Hindi and users will not have to download any external application to access their Android One smartphones in Hindi. 
 
Devices 
The smartphone vendors that Google has partnered with for the first wave of devices in India are Micromax, Karbonn, and Spice; three OEMs who lead the market in the budget smartphone segment. 
 The three devices announced are <keyword id="6378177" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Spice">Spice</keyword> Dream UNO Mi-498, Micromax Canvas A1, and Karbonn Sparkle V. The Spice Dream UNO and Micromax Canvas A1 are available in black and white, while the Karbonn Sparkle V is available in blue, grey, red, and white colors. 
 
As was announced at the Google I/O event, these smartphones come with a 4.5-inch IPS display (480x854), dual SIM card slots, microSD card slot, and FM radio. Essentially, these three are same devices internally, which just differ in design and build. 
 Packing in a 1.3 GHz quad-core <keyword id="6369515" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mediatek">MediaTek</keyword> processor and 1 GB RAM, these devices include 4 GB of internal storage and a 1700mAh battery. The phones feature a 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. 
 
Pricing 
The only bullet point of the pitch that the Android One smartphones don’t keep up to is the promise of sub-$100 smartphones. In a competitive, and crowded, price segment, the devices are priced starting at ₹6399. It wasn’t a bad price at the start of this year, but now it will disappoint most. 
 There’s <keyword id="11148" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Motorola">Motorola</keyword>’s Moto E with stock Android and timely updates, which is sold at similar price-point with better hardware specifications. And the latest disruptor on the block, the Xiaomi Redmi 1S takes the crown with great specifications, although running an Android fork. 
 Google has tied up with <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> for special data plans for Android One smartphones. Airtel customers get free access to Google services like operating system and software updates. Also, all customers get 200MB worth of apps per month for six months at no cost. 
 
Availability 
The Android One smartphones will be exclusively sold via online retails immediately, and interestingly Google has picked up three leading online retailers for three devices. Since the devices are pretty much the same, you could also make a decision based on your preference for a particular online store. 
 The Micromax Canvas A1 would be available on <keyword id="6354743" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amazon-India">Amazon India</keyword>, the Spice Dream UNO will be available on Flipkart, and the Karbonn Sparkle V will be available on Snapdeal. Google has also announced that before the festive season of Diwali next month, the devices will also be available in brick and mortar stores. 
 
What’s Next 
Android One is a big bet for Google in India, and the region is clearly the ground zero for the initiative. Google plans to expand Android One to Indonesia, Philippines, and other South Asian countries by the end of 2014 and in more countries in 2015. In India, more devices will follow in coming months in price bands above and below the latest range. 
 At the event, Google also announced the next set of partners for the Android One initiative. These include <keyword id="104695" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Qualcomm">Qualcomm</keyword>, and OEMs like Acer, Alcatel Onetouch, HTC, Lenovo, <keyword id="6367990" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Panasonic">Panasonic</keyword>, XOLO, Lava, Intex, and Asus. Glaring omissions from the list are <keyword id="10591" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Samsung">Samsung</keyword> and <keyword id="6356116" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="LG">LG</keyword>.

You Searched For "lava htc phones" and got 6 results

The maker of Lava phones has quietly brought HTC back to India — but with a phone that fails to impress

Prabhjote Gill

Expect a big take off in cellphone assembling! Imports of semi-knocked down devices up 64%

BI India Bureau

Samsung leads smartphone market with 43% in last quarter of 2014

BI India Bureau

REVIEW: Saffron 1 Is A Good Bid For People Who Admire NAMO Or Want A Decent But Less Expensive Smartphone

Sulabh Puri

Delhi’s friendly neighbourhood Noida is now India’s hub for mobile production

BI India Bureau

Everything You Need To Know About Android One

Gizmodo India Bureau

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