Samsung Electronics and Motorola are gearing up to launch handsets based on Google's Android operating system in India.
In the run-up to Apple CEO Tim Cook's visit to India, government officials are finalising the talk points with the Cupertino-headquartered tech major. Officials said that the government would like Apple to "deepen" the company's engagement in the manufacturing and assembly of iPhones in the country and not limit itself only to the minimum commitments made under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile devices. The conversations between the two sides are likely to focus on that.
E-learning and work from home have forced a section of feature phones users to shift to smartphones.
Reliance Jio is close to finalising its contract with telecom gear maker Ericsson to roll out its 5G network in Mumbai and Maharashtra and Kolkata and West Bengal in the first phase of its launch in October. And it is going with Nokia for the lucrative Delhi circle, and Chennai, which includes Tamil Nadu, say sources aware of the development. This is the first time that Jio is opting for multiple vendors.
This year will be the one when GenAI becomes a part of the daily lives of people around the world.
Indeed, where other industries complained of poor demand, festival season sales for consumer electronics grew 30-35 per cent year on year, boosting average growth for the year from 7-8 per cent to 10 per cent. In fact, it was the durable sector which drove industrial growth of 4.8 per cent in September.
The Rs 30,000-crore consumer durables market is expected to rake in more money this summer on the back of rising mercury levels.
Two major consumer durables and home appliances makers Sony and Samsung have ruled out any immediate hike in prices of products even as a steep fall in rupee against dollar has squeezed margins.
Despite flooding the market with energy efficient and innovative products to lure consumers, the unprecedented increase in steel prices have forced the companies to pass on the burden to customer, who is already shelling out more for essential commodities. Samsung India Deputy MD R Zutshi told PTI that based on the input cost pressure linked with the hike in steel prices the company has already increased the prices of refrigerators by 2-3 per cent in March.
The stock of Dixon Technologies (India), the country's largest listed electronic manufacturing services (EMS) player, was up 6 per cent in 10 trading sessions, boosting the gains over the last three months to 21 per cent. The gains came following reports that Dixon will produce laptops in India in partnership with US and Chinese firms under the production-linked investment (PLI) scheme. It recently signed an agreement to make smartphones for Xiaomi India.
Bharti Airtel on Thursday said its 5G services have gone live in eight cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur and Varanasi. The customer availing 5G services will have to pay as per their existing 4G plan, it said. "Airtel has been at the forefront of India's telecom revolution for the last 27 years.
The government on Thursday imposed import restrictions on laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, ultra small form factor computers, and servers with immediate effect. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in a notification said exemption from import licensing is provided up to 20 items per consignment for R&D, testing, benchmarking and evaluation, repair and return and product development purposes.
Google's premium smartphone series Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will be around 15-21 per cent costlier in India compared to other countries, according to the prices revealed by the company. The company has started pre-booking the Pixel 7 at Rs 59,999 ($729.36) and Pixel 7 Pro at Rs 84,999 ($1033.27) on the e-commerce portal Flipkart. The devices would be available from October 13.
Get Ahead reader Vinayak Gupta has contributed this review of Samsung Wave S8500 in response to our reader invite.
Microsoft has become the first global Big Tech company to join the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), an Indian government initiative for developing a first-of-its-kind open network for digital commerce. The world's second-largest technology firm intends to introduce social e-commerce via its app in the Indian market later this year. ONDC is expected to open to the public in Bengaluru over the next fortnight as it enters into the next phase of the pilot for further fine-tuning before rollouts in other cities, according to a source in the know.
Google is followed by Sony India who won the runner-up position.
'Had they agreed to our demands that we raised two years ago, we would have never started our agitation again.'
E-commerce major Amazon will host Prime Day - its annual sale event - in India on July 15-16. The company will launch over 45,000 products from over 400 Indian and global brands. The announcement of the Prime Day event in India comes at a time when 900 workers at Amazon UK plan to strike for three days (July 11-13).
The Apple iPhone comprises 44 per cent of the global smartphone market's revenues and it is the second most-such device to be shipped after Samsung. More than half of smartphones used in the US are iPhones. More than 7 million iPhones are expected to be sold in India in 2022, extending the user base to 20 million, according to market research and analyst firm Techarc. Hence, the news about Apple scaling down its production target for iPhone 14 in India has made news.
Young consumers said that Oppo's constant focus on camera prowess and its long-lasting batteries remained at the top of their mind
Xiaomi topped the chart as the most sold smartphone brand by its users with 26 per cent share, followed by Apple (20 per cent), Samsung (16 per cent), Vivo, and Motorola (6 per cent each) among others, it said. Most smartphones sold by users were in the sub-Rs 10,000 brackets, it added. Among models, the iPhone 7 was the hottest selling model along with some other models as well as Redmi Note 4 and OnePlus 6 during the year. The number of smartphone repairs was the highest in Delhi in 2020.
The finance ministry is looking at a reworked proposal from mobile device makers on how to fight the rampant and growing smuggling of very high end phones. The proposal suggests reducing the basic customs duty (BCD) on phones which have a CIF (cost, insurance and freight or price at landing in the port) value of over Rs 35,000-Rs 40,000. The retail value of these phones is upwards of Rs 70,000.
After 2014, our growth has been average of around 5%. If this continues, we will remain here like Egypt, Brazil, South Africa and Bangladesh, points out Aakar Patel.
India has become world's 2nd largest mobile phone: Modi
With consumers staying indoors and e-commerce firms extending their reach to a larger number of pin codes, these giants have snatched a larger share from the offline traders this season.
The festive season, which usually starts from September, is when 35 per cent annual sales get transacted for most durables firms.
'You have to be a total anti-national bozo to shut down the Nokia plant in Sriperumbudur, which was the first large manufacturing plant for mobile phones in India.' 'Why was the unit shut down? Because of somebody's ego.'
This festive season is expected to be a happy one for consumer durables companies, with most expecting to clock a sales growth of 40 per cent - double the amount achieved last year.
Their favourite alternatives: Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Note, India is missing from that list. And this is despite an attractive financial incentive scheme for OSAT players. The reason, said a senior executive of a US chip company who had a meeting in Taiwan just a few weeks ago, is that "they want more predictability in government policy because they plan to put in big money."
Four leading IT companies - Zenith Computers, Microsoft Corporation India, Intel Corporation and Samsung India Electronics - have jointly launched 'Multiply', a solution for the Small and Medium Enterprise market.
They are both electronic manufacturing services (EMS) companies, also known as contract manufacturers. One is Taiwan's Foxconn group, the undisputed global number one in this business with revenues of $223 billion. The other is Dixon Technologies, the biggest domestic player with revenues of over Rs 10,500 crore.
Google, in its latest appeal to the Supreme Court, has said the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is protecting Amazon's interests after having complained that India's anti-competition body (CCI) had copied part of a European Commission ruling against it for allegedly abusing the market dominance of Android. The latest twist to the Google-CCI case comes as Google filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on June 26, against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT's) March 29 order. The tech giant's contention is that the NCLAT failed to apply the "effect analysis" part in the CCI order.
Chinese mobile brands are deeply entrenched in the Indian market. A move to bar them may send a bold diplomatic message. But its cost for the local industry is anybody's guess. In the event that Chinese brands face curbs, two handset makers - Samsung and Apple - squarely stand to gain.
From auto, refrigerator, and mobile handset makers to real estate firms, companies are tying up with banks to dole out attractive finance schemes and discounts to make buying more affordable.
The government on Thursday tweaked curbs on imports of laptops and computers as it allowed importers to bring in shipments of IT hardware from overseas on a mere 'authorisation' upon detailing quantity and value. The new 'import management system' is aimed at monitoring shipments of laptops, tablets and computers into the country without hurting market supply or creating a cumbersome licensing regime. The announcement is likely to provide relief to companies in the IT hardware segment in India as they had flagged concerns over the imposition of a strict licensing regime for importers.
Smartphone shipment in India declined by 10 per cent to hit a three-year low of 43 million shipment in the July-September 2022 period, market research firm International Data Corporation said on Monday. The 5G smartphone share reached 36 per cent of total smartphones during the reported quarter with 16 million units at a slightly higher average selling price of $393, about Rs 32,000, apiece compared to $377, about Rs 30,600, in the previous quarter. "India smartphone market declined 10 per cent year-over-year (YoY) shipping 43 million units in July-September 2022.
'Whoever owns the best chip industry will be the Saudi Arabia of the era of data,' predicts Rajeev Srinivasan.
The battle for subscribers in the direct-to-home (DTH) market is hotting up with Reliance Communications (RCom) close to finalising a bulk deal with the country's leading TV manufacturers -- LG Electronics, Samsung India and Sanyo -- which will be offered to customers at a hefty discount bundled with a DTH package.
What is driving the digital-first approach of traditional, legacy brands? Apart from the growing adoption of the internet in the country, brands are drawn to the agility of the medium.
The industry is expecting double-digit growth on a year-on-year basis, helped by a possible price correction after softening of raw material inputs and factors such as positive sentiments, pent up demand and improving economic conditions. Besides, a shift in consumer behaviour from price consciousness towards technologically advanced premium products with quality, value proposition and safety aspects leading to a rise in demand for home automation products is making the industry upbeat. With the government's production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for white goods, which has witnessed a committed investment of Rs 4,614 crore, in place, many manufacturers are gearing up to make the most out of the opportunity as well as take steps towards reducing their dependency on imports and make products more affordable.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances