Vivo planning second manufacturing unit in India

Buoyed by significant growth in demand, Chinese handset vendor Vivo is "studying" the prospects of setting up its second manufacturing plant in India.

Last year, the company invested about Rs 125 crore in the first phase of the assembling unit that has a monthly capacity of over one million phones.

"We are studying whether we should set up a second plant in India. We will be able to take a firm decision only by next year," Vivo India Chief Marketing Officer Vivek Zhang told PTI.

He added that its current facility in Greater Noida is almost running at full strength.

The company, like its counterparts Lenovo, Gionee, and Xiaomi, have seen significant growth in sales in the past few months. According to research firm IDC, smartphone market in India grew 17.1 % sequentially to 27.5 million units in April-June quarter of 2016, driven by higher uptake of Chinese brands.

India is also one of the fastest growing smartphone markets globally.

The company has also appointed Kent Cheng as the new CEO for India operations. He joined Vivo early this year and in his current role, he will build strong presence of the brand across the country through marketing, sales and customer service network.

Vivo has also launched a new smartphone -- Y55L -- priced at Rs 11,980. The 4G VOLTE device features a 5.2-inch display and is powered by 1.4 GHz octa-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory (expandable up to 128 GB), 8MP rear and 5MP front camera and 2,650 mAh battery.

"India is a very important market for us because of the maximum smartphone penetration. We want to cater to every price point with our innovative products," Cheng said.

-PTI