Asustek Computer, the Taiwanese company that sells handsets under Asus brand, is actively considering scope for manufacturing in India, as it seeks to tap more of the country’s fast growing smartphone market by leveraging the government’s Make in India initiative.
“With the new government policies, we do see some benefits of manufacturing devices in India,” Peter Chang, country manager at Asus India, told ET. “We are in the process of hiring a consultancy firm to evaluate the prospects of manufacturing in India.” The company would also look at setting up a research and development lab in India. Currently, Asus has R&D centers in Taiwan and China.
The move comes after the budget for fiscal 2015-16 made importing of handsets more expensive as part of the government’s efforts to promote local manufacturing. Since then, several of Asus’ bigger rivals have also shown interest in making phones locally.
India-based Micromax, Lava and Karbonn have spoken about their plans to manufacture in India, while global companies such as Xiaomi have also evinced interest. Market leader Samsung is looking to expand local production.
Asus is hopeful of getting more than half its India revenue from a newly established smartphone vertical.
“We closed the 2014-15 financial year at around $150 million (Rs 935 crore), out which 40% revenue came from our smartphone business. We are now expecting almost 60% of our revenues coming from this vertical,” Chang said.
