Coolpad Dazen, which launched two 4G smartphones for India on Thursday in a tie-up with Snapdeal, will soon start assembling and later manufacturing handsets in Aurangabad, a top official of the company said.
"Devices will start rolling out of the facility in nearly four months," Varun Sharma, CEO of Coolpad India told IANS at the sidelines of the launch. The company will also use Bengaluru as its research and development hub.
"We have entered the market here with technology and innovation which has been built for the Indian market. We are also announcing our world debut of our extended-power technology in India which will help in smart power consumption for smartphone batteries," Sharma added.
Coolpad Dazen, a joint venture between Chinese handset-maker Coolpad and Chinese search engine Qihoo 360, released the Dazen X7 (a mid-range smartphone) and the low cost Dazen 1. Dazen X7 and Dazen 1 are priced at Rs.17,999 and Rs.6,999 respectively. These devices will be available in India from June 9 onwards exclusively on Snapdeal. Registrations for Dazen 1 will open on Snapdeal on Thursday.
Asked about reasons to launch in India, Li Wang, President and Global CEO of Dazen said: "India has always been a very exciting market and is also the fastest growing online smartphone market in the world and that is why we wanted India to be among the first markets where we would launch our new innovations."
"We are committed to consumers here and want to be recognised as a local brand. Dazen will rely on Coolpad's scale of producing more than 60 million smartphones and more than six thousand technology patents, as well as outstanding internet technology solutions of 360, to become the leading internet company in the world," Li added.
The Chinese handset-maker also made clear it wanted to be India's top player when it came to exclusive e-brands like Xiaomi, Honor, Nubia or Yu. Asked about competition, Li said: "We are in India for the long term and we believe with our power of hardware and innovation we will achieve our targets and goals."
The Dazen X7 packs a 5.2" full HD display, 13MP f/1.8 rear camera and 8MP front shooter. The phone runs on true Octa-core 1.7 GHz, with 2GB RAM, and 16GB storage, and is powered by a 2700mAh battery, along with extended battery up to 50 percent.
On the other hand, Dazen 1 is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor coupled with 2GB of RAM along with 8GB of built -in storage. It sports an 8-megapixel rear camera with a f/2.2 lens and LED flash. It also features a 5-megapixel front camera. It is backed by a 2500mAh battery, along with extended battery up to 50 percent.
(Anirban Ghoshal can be contacted at anirban.g@ians.in
