Sony Ericsson may make phones locally via partners

Cellular handset maker Sony Ericsson is evalauting the possibilities of
manufacturing in India, but any final decision in this regard will be taken by business partners to whom it has outsourced the production of mobile phones.

Sudhin Mathur, GM of Sony Ericsson India, said: "India is a big market. We are evaluating the manufacturing option, but we cannot take any final decision over this as we outsource most of our manaufacturing to business partners like Flextronics and Beijing Mobile Corporation. We have provided them information on the Indian market. Now, it should be their call."

Mathur was speaking to reporters after launching a slew of new
mobile phones.

While Nokia has already announced plans to manufacture handsets in India, and is currently in the process of location finalisation, LG has already set up a GSM handsets plant in Pune. Motorola has also evinced keen interest in manufacturing mobiles in India.