Samsung Electronics opened the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturing plant by production capacity in India on Monday, taking the fight to its rivals in the burgeoning smartphone market in the country.
Samsung is constantly expanding its operations across the world. Yesterday, it formally opened the doors on its latest development in the Indian city of Noida, a facility the company claims is now the largest phone factory in the world.
The factory located in the city of Noida and will help Samsung gradually double its current annual production capacity in India from 67 million phones to 120 million in the next three years. The factory is also expected to provide at least 1,000 more local jobs.
$715 Million Investment
To mark the occasion, the head of states of both India and South Korea were present. The plant is a part of $715 million worth of development in the market by Samsung in Indai.
The move will also likely bolster Samsung’s position in the market after it dropped to second place behind Xiaomi among the top smartphone manufacturers in India.
Xiaomi is already producing its phones in India for quite a while and has been ramping up production in recent times, to reach a total of six factories in the country to-date.
“The Noida plant has now become Samsung’s largest smartphone manufacturing unit,” South Korean President Moon Jae said, as the company announced that it planned to eventually manufacture 120 million smartphones a year at the factory.
Export plan
Samsung, which has been assembling phones in India since 2007, also plans to export India-made handsets.
“We ‘Make in India’, ‘Make for India’ and now, we will ‘Make for the World’,” HC Hong, Chief Executive Officer at Samsung India, said in the statement.
The new factory will help to reach India’s magnificent smartphone market which grew 14 percent last year with 124 million units shipped.
The demand for smartphones continues to rise in India, as it’s helped in part by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio carrier offering some of the cheapest data plans in the world.
The factory will make up to 120 million pieces a year and potentially include other electronic appliances like refrigerators and flat panel televisions down the line. The 35-acre facility will reduce time to market and give Samsung more elbow room to export to neighboring regions, ultimately giving Samsung a leg up on its competitors.
Make in India
The move will also have political agenda behind it. The country’s “Make in India” slogan has been inviting foreign investors to produce their promising local market. Samsung’s representatives too talked about making the market a hub for the rest of the world.
Finally, as western markets get more saturated, and dependable ones such as China start to stutter, it is getting ever-important to find sustained sources of growth, and India, with roughly a billion people, definitely offers that.
President of South Korea Moon will be formally received by India’s President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday before holding talks with Modi in the Indian capital.
