Leading smartphone maker Xiaomi has revealed that it is producing one device every second in India. The Chinese tech colossus has revealed that a staggering 95% of the Xiaomi smartphone being sold in India were being made in the country. That disclosure was made by vice president and managing director of Xiaomi India, Manu Jain, at the announcement of a new manufacturing plant in the scenic coastal city of Vizag in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Xiaomi also disclosed details of its latest phone the Redmi 4A.
Mr. Jain said, “With this new plant and our latest Redmi 4A, we are truly excited to be playing a role in enhancing the quality of life for people in India and being a part of the fabric of the country. “We have been able to create employment for more than 5,000 people. Over 90 percent of the workforce will be women.” In addition to this, he thanked Foxconn for being Xiaomi’s manufacturing partner in India.
However, the news for Xiaomi isn’t so good at home in China. Its smartphone sales took a whopping hot falling by 36% - which left the organization in fifth place in the smartphone sales chart. Huawei, Vivo, Apple and OPPO are all ahead. It appears its investment in India has paid off. At the start of the year it announced that it crossed the US$1bn revenue mark in the country, this result comes just two years after its official launch in India.
Former vice president of Xiaomi, Hugo Barra first announced its intentions to open the manufacturing plant in Vizag back in August 2015. At the time, the former VP said, “Manufacturing smartphones locally is a significant step towards incorporating Xiaomi into the fabric of India in the years to come.” However, two months ago Barra stunned the organization when he quit his role with Xiaomi – to take up a new post in Silicon Valley with social networking leader Facebook. Barra has been tasked with the responsibility of leading Facebook’s VR team.
By March 2016, it was also revealed that over 75% of Xiaomi phones being sold in India where being manufactured in its plant in the region. However, with a second manufacturing plant now in operation, Xiaomi will now be able to produce one phone every second during its operational hours.
