COMIO mulls handset manufacturing in India

China-based COMIO is mulling handset manufacturing in India, sans a contract manufacturer, and plans to freeze on its road-map over a year’s time.

“Currently, we are weighing various options and looking for right geographies to start manufacturing in the country. We are hopeful that over a period of one year, we will have something concrete,” said Sumit Sehgal, Chief Marketing Officer, COMIO India.

Currently, the company has partnership with V-Sun and Hipad Technology for manufacturing of devices in the country and has earmarked Rs 150 crore for manufacturing in the country.

The company is being operated by Chinese Original Device Maker (ODM) Topwise Communication, which is amongst the top printed circuit board (PCBA) manufacturers.

COMIO believes that the rise in import prices in the recent Budget is a move in the right direction and this is the right time to mull manufacturing. The company caters to Rs 5K-10K price band and believes that at this price point the rise in import prices make sense and call for more local assembling. Local manufacturing also helps in speed to market, added Sehgal.

The company is also strengthening its distribution network. “We will have 20,000 retailers and this will be doubled by April. We are also talking to large format retailers (LFRs) to expand our presence in the country," Sanjay Kalirona, CEO, COMIO India said.

After exploring north and west India, the company would be foraying into the southern market and has plans to go pan-India, with a range of smartphones.

Today, it launched COMIO S1 Lite and C2 Lite, priced at Rs 7,499 and Rs 5,999, respectively.

The S1 lite comes with a 8.0 MP selfie camera with flash, 2GB RAM, 32 GB RoM, 1.3 GHz Quad core processor and 3030 mAh battery. C2 Lite comes 8.0 MP AF Rear Camera with Flash, 1.5 GB RAM, 16 GB RoM,1.3 GHz quadcore processor.