Sony Ericsson mulls India manufacturing plans

NEW DELHI: As the Indian government is busy gathering the hardware steam to match its software supremacy, cellular handset maker Sony Ericsson is evaluating the possibility of manufacturing its handsets with the help of its global outsourcing partners in the country.






"India is a huge market for us and we are evaluating the manufacturing option over here. But any final decision in this regard, will be taken by our business partners to whom we outsource most of the production of mobile phones," informed GM of Sony Ericsson India, Sudhin Mathur.





Interestingly, Sony Ericsson is one of those companies that do not have any manufacturing facility wholly owned by the company. It outsources the manufacturing bit to players like Flextronics and BMC (Beijing Mobile Corporation).





"At present we are working closely with four major outsourcers based in China, Sweden, Taiwan and Malaysia. We have provided them information on the Indian market. Now, it should be their call to take further action," Mathur added.





Aptly answering the hardware push by the government, Finnish handset maker Nokia has already announced its plans to manufacture handsets in India, and is currently in the process of finalization of location. LG on the other hand has set up a GSM handset plant in Pune. Recently, Motorola has also shown keen interest in manufacturing mobiles in India.