Huawei expands Honor range of smartphones made in India

Smartphone maker Huawei has commenced assembling of budget smartphone Honor 7X at the manufacturing unit of Flex India near here, as part of expanding the product range. The China-headquartered company has been making Holly 3 model in partnership Flex India since September 2016 under the 'Make in India' initiative at Sriperumbudur unit, about 65 km from here. It was later increased to smartphone Honor 6X and now commenced assembling of Honor 7X, a company statement said. The Sriperumbudur unit operates three shifts and has been assembling Honor 7X smartphone since middle of January. Honor continues to strengthen the base by investing in research and development and setting up manufacturing unit for the Indian operations, Huawei Consumer Business Group, Vice President (sales), P Sanjeev said. Honor has harnessed to move up the growth trajectory with consistent investments towards consumer-centric smartphones like the Honor 7X, he said. "Honor and Huawei will keep evaluating the demands for the product in India and will keep trying to up the ante for indigenous production and localisation. Huawei's manufacturing initiative is part of its commitment to the Government of India 'Make in India' vision by harnessing local talent", he said. Huawei's Consumer Business Group comprises of dual brands Huawei and Honor. It shipped 139 million smartphones globally in 2016. "The smartphone manufacturing announcement is another milestone in Huawei's 18-year journey in India and the production of the bestseller Honor 7X is another milestone", he said. Compared to fourth quarter of 2016, the company witnessed a "three time" growth in fourth quarter of 2017, he said. The company said it had also expanded the service network by adding four new exclusive service centers in metro cities. As per the International Data Corporation, Honor led the online smartphone market with a global shipment value of USD 2.5 billion in first quarter of 2017, it added.