Hyderabad :

Andhra Pradesh is expected to make strides globally through its ‘Make in India – Made in AP’ programme by manufacturing smartphones in the State.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will launch the first Xiaomi-manufactured phone in India in Visakhapatnam on Monday. The programme will also see Xiaomi making some key announcements about its India expansion plans.

Ahead of this event, a hoarding put up by Xiaomi with ‘Make in India’ logo at Visakhapatnam airport, followed by a Facebook post, led to speculation that the Chinese cellphone maker might set up its first India plant in the port city.

Xiaomi, a Chinese low-cost smartphone-manufacturer, is the third largest smartphone-maker in the world, following Samsung and Apple. “Following the Chief Minister Naidu’s visit to China earlier this year, Xiaomi has come to Visakhapatnam to launch its first made-in-India smartphone and announce its plans for the country. We are expecting a key announcement from the Chinese low-cost smartphone-manufacturer on Monday,” said a senior official.

Given that global smartphone sales are estimated to grow from 1.5 billion in 2015 to 1.7 billion by 2017 and India will become the second largest smartphone market by 2017, Xiaomi is looking to expand its presence and increase its market share in the country. During the programme in Visakhapatnam on Monday, Manu Jain, CEO Xiaomi India, will deliver the welcome address while Hugo Barra, Vice-President (Global) Xiaomi, will brief the audience on the ‘Journey of Xiaomi in India.’

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home>States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / August 10th, 2015