Spice is known for launching pocket-friendly mobiles in the country, but those are usually imported from Chinese Original Equipment Manufactures (OEMs) and are branded by Spice here. Now, Spice is planning on investing Rs.500 crore to setup its own manufacturing facility at Noida in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The manufacturing facility will be focused upon producing budget smartphones in the country.
The facility will have the capacity of manufacturing 1-2 million devices every month initially, but the company wants to expand it to 5 million with time. In a conversation with PTI, Spice Group Chairman, Dilip Modi, said,"We will look at devices priced below Rs 5,000 and we intend to start manufacturing by the end of this year,” he said.
Spice Mobiles has already signed a MoU (Memorandum of understanding) with the Uttar Pradesh state government. The government intends on providing complete support to the the manufacturer. The ‘Make in India’ initiative is catching pace and this move by Spice adds more to it.
The handsets manufactured at the facility will also be exported to African and Asian markets. The whole ecosystem of devices getting manufactured in China is pretty developed and Shenzen plays host to the manufacturing facilities for many manufacturers. The move from Spice might just spark the change needed in the Indian smartphone industry. Manufacturing devices in India will not only help in achieving lower initial cost of production but also in the provision of better after sale services. It would be interesting to see if other smartphone brands in the country join the bandwagon.
