How to make Affordable Smartphones in India

How to make Affordable Smartphones in India

A technological step towards Atmanirbahar Bharat

 

 

The recent launch of OnePlus Nord has lit up the Mid-Range Smartphone segment with new vigor and high expectations in the smartphone industry. The hype created by the Chinese company targeting India shows how badly Indian customers want an affordable smartphone, with the latest and high-end specifications.

The demand can be attributed to several factors. First is the price hike by the mainstream Chinese companies like Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo etc. due to the rise in the GST from 12% to 18%, fueled by the depreciating Rupee against Dollar. For instance Xiaomi’s Redmi 8 was launched at INR 8999 is now available at INR 9999. Now in the Pandemic situation people don’t want to spend much on non-essential goods.

Second factor is the Ads and preloaded Chinese Apps. Customers have started complaining about the invasive and repetitive ads in the System UI. Many have justified that there is an option to disable ads or uninstall unwanted apps, but dictating promotion in the user experience is itself is a violation of privacy. Indian Government has now banned some of most prominent apps that were preloaded in almost all Chinese Phones.

And third one is the brand value that OnePlus has managed to build up in India. With its clean software experience, aggressive marketing, regular security and software updates. OnePlus has put Indian market in the top priority which is evident by launching the latest OnePlus 8 series cheaper than the US and UK market.

After the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for Atmanirbhar Bharat, there are speculations of the revival of the now dormant Indian Smartphone companies like Micromax. Though the anti-China sentiments are on high, people still want affordable devices which are majorly offered by Chinese companies. Therefore today is the best time for Indian electronic companies to introspect and learn to make affordable smartphones in India.

The question is how. Indian companies like Micromax, Karbonn, Lava, Xolo, etc. had in past dominated the entry level and mid-range segment. Offering much higher specification like better processor, extra ram, or larger display by the Chinese companies made their sales to standstill resulting in their disappearance. Where can an Indian smartphone companies enter and make a bolder statement in this competitive market?

Research and Development

R&D has always been an issue in India. In the Global Innovation Index 2019, India ranks at 52 while China is at 14. With reluctance of active private investment and lack of resources, we just can’t expect Apple like or even Xiaomi like innovation in India.

OnePlus introduced Fast Charging, High Refresh Rate screens. Samsung introduced AMOLED Display, Curved as well as Foldable displays. Vivo introduced In-Display Fingerprint scanner and Pop-up camera. Indian smartphone companies mostly borrowed Chinese phones, labeling their own brand or has more or less copied the designs.

What needs to change is the mentality of the Indian companies that people are now aware of the Tech world and can identify or learn from YouTube Tech reviewers about the design and make of the smartphone. A good investment in the R&D will not only be beneficial for the company in the longer run but also will enhance the Indian innovation in the technological world, a crucial step to become Atmanirbhar.

Outsourcing

With the ongoing tussle with China, the outsourcing of electronic parts from

China will not be a viable decision for long term. With the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” campaign Indian government will take steps to curtail the Chinese electronic import.

China plays a major part in manufacturing and supplying electronics. Almost all the major smartphone making company including Apple and Samsung uses Chinese parts. The omnipresence of the Chinese parts cannot be denied nor to be underestimated. However the trade war between US and China and the Covid 19 pandemic situation has changed the outlook against China in significant way. Companies are now looking for more affordable markets for manufacturing like Vietnam and India.

Outsourcing parts from Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea or Japan could be a viable and affordable option. India’s political as well as economic relations with these countries are better than China. With the growing border tensions between India and China, Indian companies have the option to look for these markets.

Choosing the right Specification

The success of the Chinese companies is driven by offering the best specifications at lowest prices possible. The best specification includes larger display, multi camera modules, larger battery, higher ram, highly customizable operating system and better performing processors.

With Samsung setting up its Display manufacturing plant in India, the pricing would go down. Also there are non-Chinese makers in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan which will unlikely to incur import restriction.

One of the major factors of OnePlus’s success is its clean and customizable user experience. Xiaomi’s MIUI, Oppo’s ColorOS, Huawei’s EMUI are all custom software like OnePlus’s OxygenOS built on top android. The problem with these is that they have Ads recommendations in the system apps such as Setting or Music app, which invasive as well as annoying. Also there is no guarantee provided for future updates.

Indian companies can go with Google’s stock android OS, or Android One OS. It promises a regular updates for 3 years, without any Ads or bloatware.

Processor has been a significant player in the industry. ‘Flagship killers’ are based the top-end processors, in much lower prices. Qualcomm has been dominating the smartphone industry from entry level phones to the high-end flagship phone.

However, Qualcomm processors are not cheap, especially the latest 5G series. The cheaper alternative could be Taiwanese Mediatek. Mediatek’s latest Helio G-series are performing well in phones like Redmi Note 8 Pro and Realme 6i. Their flagship processors in the Dimensity series are also in high demand in China given the high-end performance in much lower price.

The current economic situation may not be a best time for startups or companies to invest for making smartphones. But with the call of Atmanirbhar Bharat there will be incentives from the government for the local companies. India is the 2^nd largest smartphone market in the world, thus there are many opportunities for the local to go vocal.