AI+ wants to be India's answer to global smartphone brands

NxtQuantum founder Madhav Sheth is betting on his two decades of experience building smartphone brands in the Chinese ecosystem to create what he hopes will become India's first globally competitive smartphone brand.

Speaking to PTI, Sheth said his bootstrapped venture, NxtQuantum Shift Technologies, is leveraging the expertise he gained while building brands such as Realme, as well as his earlier stints at Oppo and Honor, to develop AI+, a homegrown smartphone brand aimed at competing with global players.

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"We have more than two decades of experience in this industry, building brands in the Chinese ecosystem and understanding its supply chain and economies of scale. We are now building a truly homegrown brand from scratch," Sheth told PTI.

The company launched its first smartphone in September 2025 and reported revenue of Rs 965 crore in its first, shortened financial year. It expects revenue to grow sharply in the current fiscal, its first full year of operations.

"In the last six months of operations, we generated over Rs 965 crore in revenue. In the first quarter alone, we have crossed Rs 1,650 crore. We expect to close the year at over Rs 7,500 crore, with the festive quarter expected to drive strong smartphone sales," Sheth said.

According to him, India needs a domestic smartphone brand to strengthen the country's component manufacturing ecosystem, which is currently dominated by foreign companies.

"There is huge consumption in India, but the ecosystem has largely been controlled by global brands. A local brand will naturally rely more on domestic suppliers, helping develop the component ecosystem in India," he said.

Sheth said the company continues to explore technology partnerships as it seeks to build a globally competitive smartphone business.

"There is no Indian smartphone brand today that competes globally in a USD 40-50 billion market," he said.

He also welcomed the government's recently announced Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS), saying its focus on research and development support for Indian brands would help companies such as AI+ invest in indigenous technology.

"The most important provision in MPMS is the proposed 3% support for R&D for Indian brands. We have already invested Rs 60 crore in software development, building our engineering team and setting up servers in India to ensure user data remains within the country," Sheth told PTI.

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The company plans to expand its R&D capabilities by setting up testing laboratories and scaling up its engineering teams.

"We have built our own servers and source code, and we are creating dedicated hardware, software and testing teams. Our R&D workforce will eventually have over 150 engineers, supported by around 30 expatriate experts who will help train them. Our goal is to develop not just smartphones in India but also build the country's component ecosystem," he said.

AI+ has so far launched five smartphone models priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 30,000.
"We are focused on delivering quality, design and value to consumers. Since inception, we have sold over 20 lakh smartphones, making it one of the fastest-growing smartphone brands in India," Sheth said.