Xiaomi Corp (小米) is increasing local sourcing in India, where the Chinese smartphone company seeks to regain market share it lost amid heightened regulatory scrutiny and stiff competition.
Xiaomi has contracted homegrown Optiemus Electronics Ltd to make its bluetooth neckband earphones — the first time an Indian supplier is to make an audio product for the Beijing-based tech giant, Xiaomi India president Muralikrishnan B said in an interview.
“This marks our entry into a whole new set of categories,” Muralikrishnan said late last week at an Optiemus factory in the Noida suburb of the capital New, Delhi. “We see this as a milestone, as further proof of our commitment to making in India.”
Photo: Reuters
Xiaomi led India’s smartphone market for years, but allegations of money laundering and increased state scrutiny contributed to a decline of more than 20 percent in its shipments in the country last year, research firm Counterpoint has said.
It ranked third in the final quarter of last year, also hurt by tough competition, component shortages and an excessively wide product portfolio that confused customers and retailers.
South Korean rival Samsung Electronics Co beat Xiaomi to the top spot in the period, and has since reinforced its manufacturing push in India by locally building its fold and flip smartphones, as well as its Galaxy S23 flagship.
Xiaomi is betting on the growing demand for smart TVs, bluetooth earphones and other accessories to boost revenue in the country.
“The Xiaomi partnership reflects the steady rise of homegrown companies, which are capable of feeding not just India’s demand, but can also export to the global market,” said Nitesh Gupta, a director at Optiemus, which also counts Apple Inc’s Taiwanese supplier Wistron Corp (緯創) as a strategic partner.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
CHANGING JAPAN: Nvidia-powered AI services over cellular networks ‘will result in an artificial intelligence grid that runs across Japan,’ Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said Softbank Group Corp would be the first to build a supercomputer with chips using Nvidia Corp’s new Blackwell design, a demonstration of the Japanese company’s ambitions to catch up on artificial intelligence (AI). The group’s telecom unit, Softbank Corp, plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support local services, it said. That computer would be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines computer processors with so-called AI accelerator chips. A follow-up effort will feature Grace Blackwell, a more advanced version, the company said. The announcement indicates that Softbank Group, which until early 2019 owned 4.9 percent of Nvidia, has secured a
RSS