Zopo plans to set up manufacturing unit in India by December

Chinese mobile phone maker Zopo announced its plans to set up manufacturing plant in India by the end of this year with an initial investment of about Rs. 100 crore as it is aiming to produce two lakh handsets per month.

Advantage Computers (ADCOM), which manages Zopo's India business said, "Zopo has identified place in Noida for setting up its manufacturing unit with production capacity of 2 lakh units per month. The company has plans to invest Rs. 100 crore to start this plant by end of this year."

"In India Zopo is looking to sell 1 lakh units per month. The plant will cater demand for Zopo phones in South Asian market which include Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan (via Dubai), Nepal etc," said Managing Director Sanjeev Bhatia.

Earlier this week, Zopo launched a smartphone Speed 8, which features 10 core processor chipset, the highest number of cores in any smartphone launched in India till date, for Rs. 29,999 a unit.

The chipset can deliver computing speed of up to 2.5 Ghz. Xopo Speed 8 has 5.5 inch screen size, 4GB RAM, 32 GB internal storage, 3600 mAh battery, 21 megapixel primary camera and 8 megapixel front camera.

"We have been selling phones in affordable range as well starting Rs 6,000 a unit. The deca-core smartphone is for Xopo customers looking for higher phone speed. We expect 15 per cent of our target sales to come from Xopo's premium segment starting over price range of Rs 15,000 a piece," added Bhatia.

"We will invest about Rs. 50 crore per annum for branding," added Bhatia.

Xopo expects 60 percent of its total sales to come from smartphones priced in the range of Rs. 7,000-Rs 10,000 a unit and 25 percent from handsets priced in the range of Rs. 10,000-15,000 a unit.