The Gionee F103 has been announced as the company’s first Made in India smartphone, with the brand set to invest 300 crores to produce over 60 lakh handsets per year. The devices will be manufactured by Foxconn at Visakhapatnam. This comes close on the heels of OnePlus, Huawei and Coolpad revealing similar plans for some of their products.
The manufacturer stated that beginning from March 2016, all the 4G phones it sells in the nation, including the Gionee F103, would be sourced locally. It has so far vended over 70 lakh smartphones over a period of 2.5 years. The manufacturer’s India CEO Arvind Vohra is looking to double sales in the country by 2015 – 16.
He went on to say the handsets produced in the subcontinent would be customized to suit the needs of Indian customers. The imported F103 is currently being sold with a Rs 9999 price tag and is set to be replaced by the locally assembled version. It first arrived in the country in September.
A neat summary of the main specs of the Gionee F103 at a glance:
– OS: Android 5.0 Lollipop-based Amigo 3.0
– CPU: 64-bit 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735
– Display: 5-inch IPS, 720 x 1280 pixels
– Memory: 16GB, expandable up to 32GB
– RAM: 2GB
– Battery: 2400mAh
– Camera: 8MP rear, 5MP front
– Weight: 136.6g
– Size: 143 x 70.3 x 7.95mm
– Connectivity: dual-SIM, 4G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, microUSB 2.0
According to PTI, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu believes the nation’s economy would rise to 9% or 10% soon, bolstered by the huge demand for electronics. He thinks by 2020, the digital market in India will reach heights of $400 billion, with mobile handsets contributing nearly $38 billion to that total.
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Vohra explained the company’s manufacturing agenda is aimed towards meeting the demand for 4G devices like the Gionee F103 in India first, before considering exports to south Asian and African countries