As per industry estimates, one SMT line requires an investment of Rs 12 crores and only the bigger contract manufacturers like Foxconn, which makes Apple, Xiaomi and Nokia branded devices, Wistron, which makes iPhones, Samsung feature phone maker Dixon, Samsung, BBK group, Lava and Gionee/Karbonn have dedicated SMT lines for mounting printed circuit boards (PCBs) in India.
Emails to LG, ASUS, iTel, Infinix and Tecno, which have re-entered the market with budget segment launches this year, did not respond to ET’s emailed queries.
“In a rare miss, the industry could not ramp up display assembly production adequately because of Covid and NGT embargo,” said chairman of India Cellular and Electronic Association (ICEA), Pankaj Mohindroo. “We continue to be fully committed to domestic mfg of sub assemblies and components.”
According to the fourth phase of manufacturing plan 2017, 10 per cent basic customs duty on display assembly, touch panel, cover glass assembly and vibrator motor/ringer was scheduled to be imposed from April 1, 2020. Except for vibrator motor/ringer, the other three schedules were postponed for October 2020.
As per ICEA, display assembly vendors including Holitech, TXD, LCE and CSOT, who have started operations in India, claim that they will be able to produce 13.90 million display units per month for smartphones and 11.4 million units for featurephones by this October.
“Claimed capacity is inadequate and will only be able to cater to marginal demand of the market as the discussion between vendors and OEMs/brands have not even started,” ICEA had said in the letter to the government, ET had reported.
The body represents major global handset brands including Xiaomi, Apple, Motorola, Nokia, Oppo, Vivo, Realme, besides contract manufacturers Foxconn, Wistron, Dixon and Indian brands Lava, Micromax, Karbonn. https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com
