Gionee plans manufacturing facility in India in two years

Gujarat is major market for Gionee's smartphones; company plans to open stores in Surat, Vadodara and other regions

 Chinese handset maker Gionee plans to set up a manufacturing facility in India in the next couple of years, a senior company official said here on Friday.

In city to launch the first exclusive 'Gionee brand store', Arvind Vohra, India head, Gionee told reporters, "We plan to set up a manufacturing facility in India may be in the next couple of years. But, for that, we need the right 'ecosystem'."

Availability of infrastructure and conducive policies from Centre to boost manufacturing, Vohra said, would go a long way in deciding their launching manufacturing facility in the country.

The exclusive 'Gionee brand store' is located in western part of the city. Vohra added, "We have had an exceptional journey in India and have been able to establish ourselves as a powerful brand in the market in such a short span of time. The western market is an important region for Gionee in India and Gujarat contributes 10.5 per cent of our business."

He said Gujarat is a major market for Gionee's smartphones and added that the company plans to open its stores in Surat, Vadodara and other regions.

Gionee's devices are priced 10-15 per cent above Indian brands and 40-45 per cent below global brands, according to Vohra, who said that the average selling price of their device is in the range of Rs 7,500 to Rs 8,000.

The company, which managed to do business of Rs 500 crore in India in the last financial year, expects the business to rise five times and the number to touch Rs 2500 crore before the end of 2014-15.

To expand its retail presence across the country, the company, according to a press release, plans to open 250 brand stores across the country by the end of this financial year and increase its service centres to 750 from the existing 700 ones..

Established in 2002, Gionee Communication Equipment Co. Ltd is a company engaged in mobile device designing, research and development (R&D), manufacturing, sales in international markets, and mobile internet application services. The company currently sells over 23 million handsets per year worldwide and is ranked tenth in the world on the basis of smartphone market share.