Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone giant is all set to start manufacturing phones outside China starting July or August this year. They have chosen the city of Chennai and will start manufacturing this year from a leased factory – speculations are rife that the idle Nokia plant could be its manufacturing base.
The company report stated – “the production lines are likely to roll out smartphones and other devices for China-based Xiaomi Technology initially, according to industry watchers.”
What is still not clear is the phone models that would be outsourced to the India plant.
Earlier Xiaomi had announced their arrival to India with a research and development center based out of Bangalore. The R&D center is expected to be operational in April 2015.
For the company, India presents the biggest market outside of China. Indians have taken a liking to the Apple of China considering the cost and the specifications that is on offer.
Xiaomi has been selling their phones through e-commerce major Flipkart through flash sales. This is all set to change with the company announcing the arrival of its own e-commerce website to handle the sales and service.
