Xiaomi sets up second manufacturing unit in India
NEW DELHI: Chinese handset vendor Xiaomi has partnered Foxconn to set up its second manufacturing unit in India at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh.
Xiaomi had entered India in July 2014 and started local manufacturing just over a year later. The new facility will be exclusive to Xiaomi, while the older one may see Foxconn making handsets for other vendors too.
While the company declined to comment on the investment details, it said Xiaomi will be able to make “one phone per second in India”.
“While I cannot disclose the exact capacity, I can tell you that we will be able to manufacture one phone per second whenever the lines are running. The two factories combined will provide employment to about 5,000 people, 90 per cent of which are women,” Xiaomi India Head Manu Jain said.
The move will help Xiaomi meet about 95 per cent of its demand in India from these two facilities. However, it will continue to import accessories, ecosystem products and its premium product, Mi5 from China.
According to research firm IDC, Xiaomi had a 10.7 per cent share of the Indian market, putting the company just behind Samsung (over 25 per cent share) at the end of December quarter.
“The smartphone market in India will grow from 110 million units per annum to 200 million plus units, in 3-5 years, Jain added.
The company has also launched a new device - Redmi 4A - that will also be manufactured at the Indian facilities.
Priced at Rs 5,999, the 4G-enabled Redmi 4A will help the company compete aggressively in the sub Rs 7,000 category that is primarily dominated by Indian players like Micromax.
It features a high capacity battery, Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor and a 13MP camera. BENGALURU: E-commerce firm Snapdeal on Monday announced the appointment of Jason Kothari as the Chief Executive Officer of its digital payment platform Freecharge and a commitment to invest an additional $20 million in the company.
We are delighted to announce his leadership role at Freecharge,” Snapdeal Cofounder and CEO Kunal Bahl said in a statement here.
In addition to taking on the role of CEO, Jason will continue his key leadership role as Chief Strategy and Investment Officer at Snapdeal, the statement said.
He will also join the Board of Directors of Freecharge, it said. Most recently, Kothari was CEO of Softbank-backed online real estate company Housing.com, where he led the successful turnaround of the company from a position of distress to a market leader in one-and-a half years using organic and inorganic growth, the statement said.
Prior to joining Housing. com, Kothari was CEO and Vice Chairman of characterbased entertainment company Valiant Entertainment. WASHINGTON: Ridesharing giant Uber took another hit with the departure of its president, Jeff Jones, after just six months, US media reported Sunday.
Jones’ departure comes after a series of difficulties at Uber, Recode and The Wall Street Journal reported. According to Recode, Jones had voiced dissatisfaction with the company’s strategies.
Reached by AFP, Uber would not conform the report as of late Sunday.
“It is now clear, however, that the beliefs and approach to leadership that have guided my career are inconsistent with what I saw and experienced at Uber, and I can no longer continue as president of the ridesharing business,” he said in a statement to Recode.
Uber CEO Trevor Kalanick had asked for his resignation.
San Francisco-based Uber has also been rocked by disclosures about a culture of sexism and its covert use of law enforcement-evading software.
Kalanick also made a hasty exit from a business advisory panel for President Donald Trump after a consumer boycott campaign fueled by concerns that he was aiding a leader with divergent values.
Uber, which is not publicly traded, is worth about $70 billion and operates in dozens of countries.
According to Forbes magazine, Uber’s lofty value gives Kalanick a personal net worth of $6.3 billion.