Huawei draws up 3-year plan to tap India’s phone market

Chinese handset maker Huawei has charted out a new three-year plan to win the Indian market through its dual-brand strategy, backed by investments of over $100 million (around Rs 7,350 crore) starting next calendar year, and expansion of local manufacturing.

Under the new strategy, both Honor and Huawei brands will open up the global portfolio of smartphones to the Indian market to acquire market share. While the Honor brand will broaden its portfolio to tap all price segments, the Huawei brand will try to establish its position as the premium brand to take on the likes of Samsung, Apple and OnePlus in India.

Huawei-branded devices will also be available in the mid-segment, which is getting huge traction from all other Chinese brands such as Vivo, Xiaomi, and even Korea’s Samsung.


“India is a key market for Honor,” George Zhao, global president at Honor, told ET. “For nine months, we achieved 400% growth. We will end 2018 with 500% growth. The achievement is helping us consolidate our strategy. We now aim to become No. 1 in India by 2021.”

Huawei president for consumer business Jim Xu separately told ET that India is a tier-1market for Huawei due to its large population and potential.

“Volumes are going down globally as the lifecycle of devices goes up. However, India is a completely different market with 4G just starting to expand. Hence, it’s time to expand and invest in India,” Xu said. “Starting next year, we have a plan to invest over $100 million in India over three years.”

In order to support expected growth, Huawei is also partnering with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn to make smartphones in India even as it continues its partnership with Flex, which is making handsets in Chennai.