In the mobile phone Red Sea market in India, manufacturers are struggling to gain more market share.
Recently, Foxconn signed a factory agreement with Maharatotra State of India to build a factory in the special economic zone of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority. It has auctioned 45 acres of land. Foxconn said that it still has another It takes 200 acres of land.
Last week, Samsung also announced that it has built a new factory in India and called it Samsung's largest mobile phone manufacturing plant in the world.
Although China's mainstream mobile phone manufacturers have been building factories in India in the past two years, it seems that the competition for market share in India is still in progress.
At the beginning of this year, Xiaomi also called on suppliers to jointly set up factories in India and produce printed circuit boards in India with the help of partners such as Foxconn.
This aspect is the product of the stimulus of India's relevant tax policy, but on the other hand, it also shows that the global competition of domestic mobile phone brands has entered a stage of white-hot.
In terms of trends, the Indian mobile phone market is similar to China in the development process, that is, it generally enters the growth bottleneck period, and the time is almost simultaneously started from the second half of last year. However, the Indian market is characterized by more value-oriented, so Chinese manufacturers The market share in India shows a very different performance from China.
Wanting to seek greater market share in the Indian mobile phone Red Sea not only requires more advantages in mobile phone production costs, but also requires manufacturers to synchronize online in various local business lines, channels, R&D and other advantages.
Indian factory tide
According to foreign media reports, the local government of India attaches great importance to Foxconn's presence and hopes to locate the factory as an export base. They have asked Foxconn to use 51% of the products in the future for export, and Foxconn has obtained tax benefits.
Samsung’s move to build a factory has also received much attention. Indian Prime Minister Modi and South Korean President Wen Zaiyu attended the completion ceremony of the Samsung India factory on July 9. It is reported that the newly built factory covers 32 acres and will help Samsung. The local mobile phone production has increased from 68 million per year to 120 million per year.
Prior to this, Huawei, OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, Chuan, Coolpad, Lenovo and other manufacturers have successively established factories in the local. According to the 21st Century Business Herald reporter, in the second half of this year, OPPO will set up another factory in India.
One of the important reasons for the resurgence of the factory tide this year is the increase in tariffs in India.
Yan Zhanmeng, director of counterpoint research, told reporters that since last year, India has promoted the development of its own manufacturing industry, promoted India's upgrade from simple assembly to participation in manufacturing in the global mobile phone manufacturing process, and implemented strict import tax rates for the consumer electronics industry. The country imports mobile phones and even some electronic components, and the import tariff has increased from 10% to 15%.
The Indian government has explicitly encouraged more foreign manufacturers, including China, to set up factories in India for local manufacturing and assembly. At the same time, tariffs on electronic components or mobile phones sold from India to the world, especially in Southeast Asia, are relatively low.
This has accelerated the trend of mobile phone manufacturers setting up factories in India, but it has also brought more possibilities for the re-sorting of local markets and even strategic changes in the global market.
'Can be understood as the layout of the future, but also laid out now.' The first mobile phone industry research institute director Sun Yanxi told 21st Century Business Herald that Samsung’s move is similar to the situation in which Nokia and Motorola set up factories in China in 1995, namely At the same time affected by local development and policy promotion.
In terms of Samsung's expansion in India, it means that Samsung hopes to take advantage of other markets in the event of a loss in the Chinese market.
According to the statistics of the First Mobile Phone Research Institute, in June 2018, India’s online market function machine brand sales ranked, Samsung dominated Shantou. Sun Yanxi explained that in the Indian mobile phone market, the proportion of intelligent and functional machines is 4: 6, the function machine is mostly, but now whether it is glory, OPPO, vivo or millet, there is no layout in the functional machine. This can be regarded as Samsung's share advantage in the Indian market.
'We learned from the supply chain that the Indian functional machine market has a huge space, but because everyone does not have sufficient confidence, they don't dare to fight heavily. For example, Xiaomi has the idea of doing functional machines, but it has not been done so far.'
For Foxconn, on the one hand, it provides OEM services for branded mobile phones including Apple and Xiaomi. On the other hand, it also has its own products to be promoted. According to Sun Yanxi, Foxconn’s two own brands, Archos ( ARCHOS) and Sharp, have a certain sales in the Indian market.
According to counterpoint statistics, 125 mobile phone brands have been manufactured locally in India, of which 77% are held by Indian companies, 14% are held by Chinese OEMs, and 45% are foundries (such as Foxconn). 3. 30% of the factories are in the Noida area of the west.
Strangled in the Red Sea market
A number of industry insiders told reporters that the current Indian mobile phone market has entered a growth bottleneck period, showing the characteristics of the Red Sea.
'Now the Indian market is relatively crowded, and entering one will also eliminate one. Therefore, whether manufacturers have space and profits to do it depends on the company's development strategy and focus. 'Yan Zhanmeng pointed out to reporters that the competition is fierce in the Indian market, and the cost is especially critical. Therefore, Samsung and Xiaomi, which currently occupy the top two in the Indian market, are also expected to strive for more factors to counterbalance, especially in the low-end market.
Sun Yanxi also told reporters that as of May this year, India's smartphone market has entered a stagnant growth period, but the unit price has increased from 8,000-9000 rupees last year to 11,000 rupees this year.
The killing of mobile phone manufacturers is still continuing, and unlike the functional machine market, Chinese mobile phone manufacturers have also changed in the field of smart phones in India.
According to the statistics of the First Mobile Phone Research Institute, the top three brands of Indian online market smartphone sales in June 2018 were Xiaomi, realme, and one plus. According to the 21st Century Business Herald reporter, realme suddenly appeared on the list this year. 1. OPPO's online sales product line focuses on low price strategy.
'realme is at least a signal of OPPO's rise in India. Our test is starting to appear on the list from May to June this year. 'Sun Yanxi told reporters that according to him, OPPO has been in the aftermath of the explosive strategy for some time. No mobile phone manufacturing was done by ODM manufacturers. But at the end of last year, OPPO found Wentai Technology to buy a relatively low-cost machine. 'I think this move has something to do with realme. After all, in low-end models, ODM manufacturers cost control. The ability is higher than Huawei, OV and other head brands. '
This also shows the key to the development of the Indian market, namely the cost control ability. But since the development, relying solely on the price/performance ratio, it is impossible to find a good road in the Indian market.
Yan Zhanmeng told reporters that the current Indian market has changed, not only requiring high cost performance, but also higher requirements for channels, supply chain and R&D. A single online route or offline route is not feasible. He also pointed out that Can not enter in order to enter the Indian market, India's current threshold is getting higher and higher, after the replacement of Apple's general manager in India is a proof.
Sun Yanxi explained that Xiaomi’s success on the Indian market last year was due to its use of the Internet to sweep the market, but this year’s online success depends more on its shareholders, who have a voice in India. Tower Group, which has greatly contributed to the expansion of Xiaomi's local market. 'The influence of Tata Group in India is similar to Samsung's position in Korea.'
The current OPPO phenomenon shows another trend, that is, the Chinese brand's awareness of the Indian market is advanced. The biggest change of 'OV in India is that it chooses to use the power of ODM manufacturers to accept the local consumption upgrade consciousness is not so fast. Facts. 'But according to the reporter's understanding, OPPO has a full production line layout in the Indian market, that is, the high-end has Find X, the terminal has F series, and the low end has realme series.