Dixon eyes India unit of China handset maker Transsion Holdings
Dixon Technologies, India’s largest electronics contract manufacturer, is in initial talks to buy a majority stake in the local phone-making unit of China’s Transsion Holdings, people aware of the details told ET.
Transsion’s India business is valued at about Rs 700 crore, they said.
The talks come amid greater scrutiny of Chinese firms operating in the handset ecosystem. The Centre wants Indian companies and executives to have more sway over the country’s mobile phone industry, currently dominated by Chinese handset brands, as part of an informal mandate, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Transsion Holdings, which makes smartphones and feature phones for its brands Techno, Infinix and Itel, has a capacity of 25-30 million units at its three manufacturing units in Noida.
The three brands together have a 14% share of India’s overall mobile handset market and an 8% share of the smartphone segment.
Dixon makes smartphones and feature phones for brands such as Xiaomi, Motorola, Samsung and Jio among others. It has a manufacturing capacity of 30 million smartphones and 50 million feature phones at its four plants in Noida.
“It (the deal with Transsion) can possibly help in scaling up and ultimately reaching PLI (production-linked incentive) targets in an accelerated time frame under the scheme. Also, scale puts Dixon in a favourable position to attract new clients and enter related electronic categories,” said Navkendar Singh, associate vice president, IDC India.
Dixon and Transsion didn’t respond
