Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has reportedly partnered with Indian consumer electronics contract manufacturer Dixon Tech to make about 55K TV sets locally every month.
According to an ET report, two senior industry executives revealed that with this deal, Dixon will likely ensure an August launch for the Make-in-India ‘Mi’ brand of TVs. The local production for this is expected to start next month at Dixon’s new Tirupati plant. Xiaomi is expected to make 32- and 43-inch sets through this arrangement, which may later be expanded to newer models.
As part of the Xiaomi-Dixon deal, the local production will be done in the “open cell” route. This means that the company will import television panels in the open-cell state, and they will require assembling before they’re ready to use in making the television sets.
It was earlier reported that Xiaomi is also working with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn to further expand TV production locally. It is being speculated that Xiaomi wants to ensure local output for more than 90% of the television sets it sells in India. Foxconn is likely to manufacture the 55-inch and above models at its Chennai facility.
The report further added that currently, Xiaomi pays 20% duty for importing its televisions as completely built units, attracting a further 2% surcharge. Local production in the open-cell route attracts just 5% import duty, with a 1% additional surcharge.
