Confirming the diversification strategy, Bharat FIH said it was leveraging on its success in smartphones to make strides in newer segments such as EVs. The company declined to disclose the Sriperumbudur plant's operating capacity, which it said was a factor of customer demand, planning and prevalent market conditions. However, the company was quick to add that it has "exceptional capability" to expand capacity as per customer needs.
The tech giant's move comes at a time when Chinese regulators have been asking listed companies to repurchase shares to stabilise market confidence.
While the world's largest auto market is challenging for newcomers due to a cut-throat EV price war underway and slowing demand, analysts have said Xiaomi has deeper pockets than most EV startups and its smartphone expertise gives it an edge in smart dashboards - a feature prized by Chinese consumers.
After complaints from retailer associations, brands including Xiaomi and Realme are repurchasing stocks selling at lower prices to trace back the retailer and distributor and penalise them, according to correspondence between the two parties ET has seen.
Counterpoint said that steady investments into the MEA and Caribbean and Latin America markets by Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and Transsion Group have intensified the competition, stimulating the demand for budget-economy smartphones.
"In the three years of developing this car, my biggest realization is that making cars is extremely difficult. Even a giant like Apple gave up on it," Lei said to a packed audience at the event, which included high-profile Chinese auto executives, including the leaders of Chinese EV makers Xpeng , Nio and Li Auto.
It’s a challenging time for Apple. Analysts say its latest product, a $3,500 virtual reality headset released in February, is still years away from gaining mainstream appeal. This month, Apple has taken two regulatory hits: a European Union fine of nearly $2 billion for anti-competitive music streaming practices and a U.S. government lawsuit claiming Apple violated antitrust laws.
Anticipation for the car has been building up since Xiaomi unveiled the vehicle in December and announced it aimed to become one of the world's top five automakers. Lei has touted it as having technology capable of delivering acceleration better than Tesla cars and Porsche's EVs.
According to Counterpoint Research, Google Pixel smartphones grew their market share in India by 111% on year in 2023 while Lava grew its share by 36%, Transsion by 31%, OnePlus by 33%, and Motorola by 13%. Apple iPhone sales increased 46% last year to reach a record 10 million units.
The company accelerated sales spurred by premiumisation with average handset selling prices rising by 22%, higher than the industry average of 17%. The share of no-cost EMI purchases has also increased from 54% to 60% during the year, said Akshay Rao, mobile experience business general manager at Samsung India. Tenure for no-cost EMI schemes too rose to 18 months from 12 months earlier.
'A lot of credit goes to the government, as well as the two large mobile operators, Airtel and Jio. The rate at which they've been rolling out the 5G network is unheard of.'
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