Lenovo-Motorola starts manufacturing smartphones in Chennai

With a rising number of smartphone vendors opting for local manufacturing in India sees, China's Lenovo has also decided to join the bandwagon with the start of manufacturing smartphones at Sriperumbudur, Chennai through a contract manufacturer.

The company-owned Motorola Mobility smartphones will also be manufactured at the same plant. However, there will be separate manufacturing lines for both Lenovo and Motorola.

"Lenovo is not new to manufacturing in India. We recognised the potential of India and we invested in PC manufacturing several years ago. Lenovo's investment in the new manufacturing plant represents the potential we see in the Indian market and our long term commitment to our customers," says Chen Xudong, President MBG Group, Lenovo and Chairman, Motorola Mobility Operating Board.

Currently, the Motorola Moto E is being manufactured at this facility and the Lenovo's recently launch K3 Note will follow soon. The plant will have 1,500 employees for manufacturing lines, quality assurance, and product testing.

"The Indian government's thrust on 'Make in India' has opened up a plethora of opportunities for organisations looking to conduct business in India", says, Amar Babu, COO, Asia Pacific & Chairman, Lenovo India.

Last week Xiaomi too launched the Redmi 2 Prime, which was the company's first smartphone manufactured at its Foxconn's Sri City plant in Andra Pradesh. Even Asus is looking at manufacturing smartphones in India through contract manufacturers.

India's leading smartphone player Samsung has been manufacturing all its smartphones in its Greater Noida factory. Asim Warsi, VP, marketing, IT & Mobile, Samsung India Electronics, stated, "Our smartphones sale in India is met by the production in India."