Xiaomi, Vivo, Samsung and other smartphone makers in India have now received permission from some state governments to resume manufacturing and assembling of devices in a limited fashion.
In late-March, post India’s first announcement of lockdown, major smartphone makers had to shut down factories. The latest extension of the lockdown has been coupled with a set of relaxations in areas where the number of coronavirus cases is relatively low. While smartphone giants will resume production, government guidelines have to be followed. Several restrictions including limited production and workforce are in place.
Earlier this week, Xiaomi said it had inventory to meet up with demands for only three more weeks. Xiaomi’s manufacturing responsibilities are being taken care of by Foxconn which has received necessary approval and is expected to begin production soon. The company launched a range of gadgets in India including its Snapdragon 865-powered Mi 10 smartphone.
To facilitate sales during lockdown, the company has launched ‘Mi-commerce’ to enable users to browse through devices. Xiaomi is providing deliveries in orange and green areas. Meanwhile, Vivo said that the company will resume production at 30% of their capacity. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer will begin production in Greater Noida with 3000 employees who will work in rotation. Vivo has also launched its smart retail program which will enable its offline retailers to sell devices to customers via SMS, Vivo’s website and its Facebook page.
In the same fashion as Vivo, group company Oppo will begin operations in Greater Noida with 3000 employees. The company has commenced sales through online partners as well as Whatsapp and SMS.
Samsung, which opened its largest smartphone factory in India back in 2018, resumed limited operations on Thursday. According to a spokesperson, the production will scale up in the course of time while the company follows government guidelines to ensure safety of workers.
A contract partner of Apple, Wistron too has also begun limited operations in Bangalore. The permission to resume manufacturing comes a few days after lockdown restrictions were relaxed in orange and green areas which cover 82% of India’s 733 districts.
A few days back, the government permitted e-commerce firms Amazon and Flipkart and cab aggregators Uber and Ola to begin functioning in these areas while following social distancing guidelines.
