Xiaomi Signs Manufacturing Pacts with DBG Technology and BYD India

Xiaomi will now have eight exclusive manufacturing units with Foxconn, Flex, BYD, DBG, Dixon Technologies and Radiant.

Xiaomi, the smartphone market leader in India, has signed contract manufacturing deals with DBG Technology and BYD India, adding to partners Foxconn and Flex and deepening its local production efforts.

The enhanced capacity will be adequate to meet local demand and there are no immediate plans for largescale exports.

“Our India factories are not even fully geared up to meet local demand… Given supply constraints and Covid-19 still being there, I don’t think it will be realistic for us to believe that at least in the next few months or next few quarters, we will be able to export significantly,” Xiaomi India MD Manu Jain said.

China-based DBG, which registered its India subsidiary in 2015, has already started making Mi phones, increasing Xiaomi’s local production capacity by more than 20% from the current 12 million-15 million a quarter. BYD, historically an electric vehicle maker, is expected to start production by June.

Xiaomi, which is also the No. 1 smart TV brand by volume, has given a manufacturing contract to Radiant Appliances, which will completely localise its TV manufacturing, Jain said.

“Starting January 2021, 100% smart TVs that are selling in India, each one of them is now locally made,” he added.

Xiaomi will now have eight exclusive manufacturing units with Foxconn, Flex, BYD, DBG, Dixon Technologies and Radiant and has taken its total employee count to 60,000 across manufacturing, retail, corporate and warehouse operations from 50,000 a year ago.