Indian contract manufacturers Bhagwati Products and Videotex International have started making smart televisions for Chinese brand Realme, a development that comes as a boost to domestic electronics companies.
“We want to highlight that we have engaged with Bhagwati Products Limited and Videotex International Pvt. Ltd. as our OEM (original equipment manufacturers) partners to do the local manufacturing of realme smart TV 32 inches, 43 inches and realme Smart TV SLED 4K – 55 inches respectively,” said a Realme spokesperson.
“Through working with our partners, Realme supports the Make in India initiative and contributes to the development of the local smartphone and AIOT (artificial intelligence of things) ecosystem and also to the creation of local jobs,” he said.
The financial value of the contracts wasn’t immediately known.
A Bhagwati Products spokesperson said firms were looking for alternative manufacturers. “We are currently in-contract manufacturing arrangement with domestic as well as international brands including Infinix, Realme, TCL, Lumiford and BPL, to name a few,” said the spokesperson.
Bhagwati Products has an annual capacity of 20 million units of various appliances it manufactures across three factories in Bhiwadi, Telangana, and Rudrapur.
Another China-based manufacturer, Wingtech India, has also sought a license to manufacture Realme smartphones at its factory in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, according to information on the Bureau of Indian Standards portal.
Realme currently manufactures its smartphones from its sister brand’s Greater Noida factory. A person close to Realme, however, said the company did not intend to shift smartphone production.
Wingtech India is the world’s second-largest original design manufacturer, with a 27% market share, according to data from Counterpoint Research. It makes phones for marquee global brands such as, Oppo and Vivo, and aims to become a global leader in chip design.
The company had registered its India subsidiary in January 2019 and started production in 2020. It is currently manufacturing Samsung smartphones and Lenovo tablets.
