After rumors, Xiaomi today announced that it has tied up with homegrown consumer electronics contract manufacturer Dixon Technologies for ‘Make in India’ Mi TV. The plant is located in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, spread across 32 acres and employs around 850 people. The factory will result in a production capacity of 100,000 Mi LED TVs per month by Q1 2019.
Xiaomi has started manufacturing 32-inch and 43-inch Mi TV 4A Smart TV models at the plant currently, and is expected to expand to the latest Mi LED TV Pro models in the future. Xiaomi currently pays 20% duty for importing its televisions as entirely built units, resulting in 2% surcharge. Local production in open cell route attracts just 5% import duty, with 1% additional surcharge.
It recently increased the price of its 55-inch Mi TV 4 by Rs. 5000 due to importing of PCBAs to ramp up the supply due to huge demand. At the Mi TV 4 Pro, 4A Pro and 4C Pro launch event, the company said that it the pricing for the TVs are introductory, so manufacturing locally will keep the cost low.
Xiaomi starting making smartphones back in 2015 at its Foxconn facility in Andhra Pradesh, later it expanded it to other cities, including Noida, Uttar Pradesh in partnership with HiPad Technology. Earlier this year it started manufacturing of PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly) locally in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, in partnership with Foxconn. In August Holitech signed an MOU with the state of Andhra Pradesh to locally manufacture smartphone components in the city of Tirupati for Xiaomi.
Manu Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi and Managing Director, Xiaomi India said:
Xiaomi’s tremendous success in India has been primarily contributed to our commitment in India and we are proud to take the next step with the support of state of Andhra Pradesh. After a successful smartphone journey, we are beginning a new chapter with Mi LED TV manufacturing in India. We are already the number one Smart TV brand in India, and we hope that with our increased focus on local manufacturing, we would be able to increase our supply and ensure we can reach out to many more Mi Fans.
Honorable Chief Minister Sri Nara Chandrababu Naidu said:
Andhra Pradesh continues to lead by example when it comes to Ease of Doing Business and the attractive policies for investors in the state which is attracting blue-chip manufacturers in the field from all over the world. I have a vision of making Tirupati an IT Hub offering a one-stop solution for leading electronics players encompassing the entire life cycle of and ecosystem in electronics from design to death. Today, I am delighted to welcome Xiaomi, the undisputed leader of Smart TVs in India along with Dixon Technologies to the city of holy city of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and to the family of other leading electronics players in the state who will all together help showcase Andhra Pradesh to the world as an example of transparent governance and seamless execution in setting up of projects.