Gionee plans to transform India into an export hub

Company expects to sell 6 million handsets this year

Chinese mobile handset company Gionee, which entered India in 2013, is planning to make the country an export hub for South Asia and Africa.

The company will start manufacturing in India by February 2016. It is setting up a manufacturing unit with a Rs 300 crore investment.

“Our facility will be ready by February. The unit will be able to meet all our requirements in India,” said Arvind R Vohra, chief executive officer and managing director of Gionee India.

“India is a prospective manufacturing hub for markets in South Asia and Africa once our requirements are met here,” he added.

Gionee sold four million handsets in the country in 2014 and expects to sell six million handsets this year.

According to William Lu, president, Gionee India, is a strategic market for the company. “We were not present online. We are now partnering Snapdeal to offer our premium product, the E8,”  he said.

“We have 32,000 channel partners in India but one cannot stay out of the online space. We did not go online because we were waiting for the right product,” Vohra added.

“It is a great addition to our smartphone offerings. We hope our customers will be excited about the choices we are bringing them just before the festival season,” said Kunal Bahl, co-founder and chief executive officer of Snapdeal.