Coolpad to pump $300 mn into India plants

The Chinese firm has tied up with Videocon to churn out half-a-million devices from the latter's unit at Aurangabad

Chinese mobile handset maker, Coolpad Group Limited, is aiming at selling five million smartphones in the Indian market by the end of 2016, according to its India chief executive officer Syed Tajuddin.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed company, which produces 34 million smartphones every year, currently has a partnership with Videocon to churn out half-a-million devices from the latter’s facility at Aurangabad in Maharashtra.

The first ‘made in India’ Coolpad phone will be rolled out from the plant in the first quarter of 2016.

“The company has earmarked $300 million (around Rs 1,980 crore) for its India plans, including setting up a research and development (R&D) centre and its own assembly line in India towards the end of 2017,” he told mediapersons here on Tuesday.

Launching the company’s new smartphone, Coolpad Note 3, in Hyderabad, Tajuddin said the company had sold 100,000 units of the Amazon India-exclusive device since its launch a month ago, and was expecting to sell 500,000 units over the next four months.

Priced at Rs 8,999, the 5.5-inch Coolpad Note 3 boosts a 13-megapixel (MP) rear camera and a 5-MP front-facing camera.

The smartphone offers 3GB of RAM and 16GB of in-built storage that can be expanded up to 64GB. The device, which supports 4G LTE, also comes with a fingerprint sensor.

“We are planning a couple of more smartphone launches online by January 2016, even as we are weighing the option of setting up exclusive offline stores pan-India,” Tajuddin said.

He added that the company was working on floating an accessories division in India to roll out its wearable devices portfolio sometime during 2017.