In Greater Noida, Vivo has begun manufacturing facility worth Rs 3,500 crore

Vivo, the Chinese smartphone giant, is optimistic about its growth strategy in India and announced plans to begin operations at its new manufacturing facility in Greater Noida. This plant, spanning around 169 acres, currently has a production capacity of 60 million units annually, with potential to double to 120 million units once fully operational. This expansion was highlighted in Vivo’s annual India Impact Report 2023, released on Tuesday. However, the company did not specify a timeline for reaching full capacity.

In early 2024, Vivo became the leading smartphone manufacturer in India by volume, surpassing Samsung with a 16.2 percent market share, according to International Data Corporation (IDC) data. The new facility is part of Vivo’s dual strategy to enhance domestic manufacturing and cater to “India-centric” products, focusing on localized design, camera features, and overall user experience.

Jerome Chen, CEO of Vivo India, emphasized the company’s commitment to designing phones tailored to local preferences under the “Design for India” initiative. Vivo’s Greater Noida plant has produced over 150 million smartphones to date. This expansion aligns with the ₹7,500 crore investment plan announced by Vivo last year, with ₹3,500 crore already invested primarily in building its manufacturing capabilities.

Vivo’s new facility reflects its commitment to “Atmanirbhar Bharat,” with over 99 percent of smartphones shipped in India in 2023 being locally manufactured, a significant increase from 26 percent in 2014. The company recently vacated its previous Greater Noida plant, which had a capacity of 40 million devices per year and employed approximately 10,000 workers, now acquired by Bhagwati Enterprises, a unit of Micromax Informatics.

Over the past nine years, Vivo’s manufacturing presence in India has benefited more than 15,000 workers and created an estimated 200,000 direct and indirect jobs. The company plans to further localize critical components like OIS, camera modules, memory, and OLED displays and aims to empower Indian leaders to oversee its Indian operations. In support of India’s vision to become a primary export hub, Vivo has exported smartphones worth around ₹400 crore. The firm currently operates six flagship stores in India and plans to expand to ten by 2024, boasting over 1,000 distribution partners and 70,000 retail touchpoints nationwide.