Comio to Start India R&D Operations Next Quarter

Chinese handset maker Comio Monday said it will start a research and development centre in the country that will work on bringing in features for the Indian market in the January-March 2017 quarter.

The company has also commenced local assembly of smartphones in the country with partners V-Sun and Hipad Technology.

"We are in the process of setting up our R&D centre, which will come up next quarter. We will initially have a team of 20 people who will work on bringing in features needed for the Indian market," Comio India CEO and Director Sanjay Kumar Kalirona said.

He added that the company has two other R&D centres in Hong Kong and China, which has about 1,000 people.

"We have been here for just two months but we have seen traction for our products. We have already sold 2 lakh units and our 'Made in India' handsets are now entering the market.

We are committed to the Indian market," he said. He added that the company aims to ramp up production to 2.5 lakh a month in the January-March quarter.

Topwise Communication, which retails phones under the Comio brand, caters to mid-level smartphone segment priced between Rs. 6,000-12,000. It plans to strengthen its brand presence with a network of 30,000 retailers, 800 distributors and over 800 after-sales touch points catering to 500-550 towns.

The company has already committed investments to the tune of Rs. 150 crores, which will also include the company's own facility.

"We are still exploring options and should be able to zero in on something in the next few months. It's (the plant) most likely to be in north India," he said.

India is one of the largest smartphone markets globally. In the July-September 2017 quarter, 39 million smartphones were shipped in the country, according to research firm IDC.

Leading players in the market include Samsung, Xiaomi, Lenovo, Vivo, and Oppo, among others.