Foxconn may soon begin manufacturing phones for Microsoft in India

After Xiaomi and InFocus, Taiwanese contract manufacturer, Foxconn, may soon start rolling out smartphones for Microsoft.

If the deal sees light of the day, Foxconn will start manufacturing smartphones locally for Microsoft in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh.

Multiple sources told Economic Times that the Foxconn plant will make two variants of Microsoft smartphones for India, a market the Redmond, US-based company has been catering to from factories in China and Vietnam, and Finland.

Foxconn makes phones for top global brands including Apple. It is revving its India plans after Nokia's exit from phone manufacturing shut down its plant in Sriperambudur, Tamil Nadu.

Terry Gou, Chairman of Foxconn Technology Group, had made a statement the company will commit $2 billion to set up 10-12 factories across the country with initial plans for Andhra, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

A top Foxconn India official told ET on a condition of anonymity that the factory, named Rising Star, is being approached by various smartphones brands, but it has not "officially" received the order as yet from Microsoft.

Smartphone brands, Both Indian and non-Indian, began assembling mobile phones locally instead of importing finished goods from China after India hiked excise duty up to 12.5% to boost local manufacturing.

"From their recent announcement, it appears Microsoft doesn't want to remain deeply invested in the hardware business, but create an ecosystem of players surrounding the Windows 10 and be a driver of technology," Anshul Gupta, Director at Gartner, who focuses on mobile devices, told ET.

(Image: Indiatimes)