Handset maker itel Mobile, owned by China-based Transsion Holdings, has announced to set up an integrated industrial park to manufacture handsets in India by August 2017.
Though the location of the park is not yet finalised, the company is not ruling out the possibility of setting up the facility in Gujarat, which is having several ports.
According to itel Mobile India's CEO Sudhir Kumar, the firm is already a leading handset brand in African continent while it had acquired 8 per cent market share in the sub-Rs 8,000 segment in India within just five months of it's launch in May.
"Africa is a huge market for us. In addition, we are getting very good response in India ever-since our launch in May. Now, we are planning to set up an industrial park to manufacture mobile phones on a very large scale to meet our domestic as well as overseas demands in Africa," Kumar said.
He told reporters that the integrated park will also have units of partner vendors, who will manufacture various components, such as phone camera.
"Since we also want to export handsets to Africa, we are searching for a suitable place near a port. Since Gujarat is having several ports, this state is one of our options. However, we will take final call about the location after our feasibility report arrives. We want to operationalise the park by July or August, 2017," he added.
Kumar along with other top officials launched itel's new smart-phone "it1520" here.
According to Kumar, itel Mobile had sold around 40 lakh handsets after it's launch. Last month, the budget handset maker sold over 14 lakh handsets in India.
"itel is into handsets priced below Rs 8,000. At present, we command 8 per cent market share in that segment. We are eyeing 20 per cent share by the end of 2017. To make our industrial park viable, we need to churn out around 2 lakh handsets per day," said Kumar, adding no decision is taken yet about the required investment for the park.
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