Chinese Smartphone manufacturer Le Eco looking to make India its Global Hub for Exports

In eight months of being present in the country, Le Eco has already become a major player by already crossing the 1 million mark for the sale of its handsets in the country. And now the Chinese internet ecosystem company has kick-started manufacturing in India in partnership with Taiwan’s Compal Electronics with an investment of $5 million in the plant and $2 million in automation. The company has already started making smartphones from its 200,000 sq ft assembling facility in Greater Noida with an initial capacity of 60,000 units a month which will be ramped up to 2,00,000 by the end of December. And with this new development it has joined ranks with other Chinese handset makers in the country such as Xiaomi, Vivo and Gionee. But the company has its eyes on exports and how it is can make India its global export hub. Apart from India, Le Eco is currently present in China and Hongkong and it will soon start selling in Russia, Indonesia and the US and it is likely to export the made in India Le Eco smartphones to these countries.

The announcement also marks the entry of contract manufacturer Compal Electronics in India with its first plant in Greater Noida. Compel Electronics makes iPhones and iPads for Apple and most of the Le Eco’s smartphones sold by the company. Compal Electronics is one of LeEco's global manufacturing partners and has presence in countries like Poland, Mexico, Brazil and China. Their partnership in India is non exclusive and both partners can work with other players.

IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad virtually inaugurated Le Eco first manufacturing facility in India and talked about how electronic manufacturing is a massive force behind govt’s Make in India program. According to Indian Cellular Association, manufacturing of mobile phones have seen a massive jump of 83% with only 6 Cr. units made in 2014-15 to 11 Cr. units in 2015-16 and India is likely to make mobile phones worth Rs. 94,000 Cr. in 2016-2017.