Chinese handset-maker Coolpad to invest Rs30 crore in smartphones facility in India

Chinese handset-maker Coolpad plans to invest Rs30 crores in Indian in manufacturing, research and development (R&D) and design as it launched a new smartphone – Coolpad Note 3 – priced at Rs 8,999 on Friday.

The company added it would partner with Videocon to manufacture smartphones in the country and roll out around half a million devices from its facility in Maharashtra.

Coolpad vice president Johnson Luo said, the first made-in-India Coolpad phone will be available in the first quarter of 2016.

''India is very crucial market for Coolpad and we believe we will learn a lot from our investments here. We are here to bring affordable smartphones to the users,'' Luo added.

Coolpad, which rolls out nearly 34 million smartphones every year and has $3 billion (roughly Rs19,430 crores) revenue, had earlier launched in India with the Dazen brand name which was a partnership between Coolpad and Chinese search engine Qihoo 360.

''Dazen is no longer a part of Coolpad and has been separated due to a change in investor relations,'' Luo said suggesting Coolpad's 18 per cent stake was also owned by Chinese giant LeTV which too was thinking of launching its business in India.

''The Indian consumer knows his smartphones well and it is imperative we develop a successful product that is both robust and technically sound. However it all boils down to the price of the product and we have decided to modify that too, as it is Coolpad's philosophy to bring affordable technology to all,'' he said, Livemint reported.

Coolpad is known for its technical expertise in manufacturng innovative and cutting edge smartphones, which is in line with Videocon's vision, making this partnership mutually beneficial,'' said Abhijit Kotnis, chief operating officer (manufacturing operations and global sourcing), Videocon Industries.

Coolpad is the latest company to set up shop in the country. Earlier this month, Taiwanese technology company ASUSTeK Computer Inc, in partnership with Foxconn Technology Co Ltd, said it would start local manufacturing of smartphones at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh.

China's Lenovo Group Ltd, in August, started smartphones assembly at its 40,000 sq ft facility in Chennai run by Singapore-based contract manufacturer Flextronics International Ltd.