Inventec to Reportedly Start Production in Chennai; May Make Xiaomi Devices

Inventec Corporation, a Taiwan-based original device manufacturer (ODM) specialising in laptops, mobiles, and servers, will reportedly soon set up a production line at a leased factory in Chennai, India, with production set to begin at the end of the Q2 2015, or the start of Q3 2015.

The Chennai factory is envisioned to meet Inventec's production demand for the next couple of years. Digitimes quotes the company to report the move, but as yet, no official announcement by Inventec has been made.

Exactly what will be produced in the Chennai factory has also not been revealed, but it is Inventec is speculated to be making smartphones and other devices for China's Apple - Xiaomi. The firm's manufacturing of Xiaomi smartphones in India will prove to be a big help for the Chinese smartphone maker as it currently faces a number of difficulties in shipping millions of units across the border for its flash sales in India.

Interestingly, Xiaomi Vice President Hugo Barra in November last year revealed that the company has plans to start production in India within the next two years, and the report that one of its biggest suppliers, Inventec, is starting production in India falls in-line with those claims.

Notably, Foxconn, Xiaomi's other major supplier for smartphones, shut operations at its Chennai plant in late-December, and had attributed a change in its customer base as the reason for the closure. While this cannot yet be confirmed, Inventec may set up shop at the same factory.

The news about Inventec's production set up in India comes a week after Xiaomi India Head Manu Jain confirmed that the company is in the process of signing the lease on a facility in Bengaluru, which will be the R&D unit. This will also be Xiaomi's first R&D unit outside China.

The Digitimes report further quotes Inventec chairman Richard Lee to say the firm expects shipments of OEM/ ODM devices to reach 100 million units this year, up 33 percent from the 75 million units shipped last year.

Furthermore, Lee added that smartphone shipments will surge to 60 million units in 2015, up from last year's 55 million, and PC products shipments, including notebooks will reach 24-25 million this year as compared to last year's 20 million units.