ICEA Preparing Plans To Set Up Smartphone Designing And R&D Ecosystem In India

Mobile Industry body ICEA is all set to share its plans with the government to set up smartphone design and research & development ecosystem in the country. The new move is likely to reduce the cost of designing, chip design, and manufacturing hub in the country.

This development comes after the Indian government wants to create and develop knowledge of designing skills. If this scheme is implemented then it might change manufacturing into knowledge-based procedures.

"We have initiated our journey with manufacturing prowess, but now is the time to shift gears. In order to truly become a truly Atmanirbhar Bharat, we will have to be deeply rooted in innovation-based growth. It can only be based on the immense focus and expenditure in R&D," Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of ICEA said.

Notably, ICEA is representing Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Vivo Oppo, and Realme. In addition, the company represents Apple, Nokia, Lava, Motorola, Micromax, along with contract manufacturers like Dixon, Flextronics, and Wistron.

Meanwhile, research firm Counterpoint said that Poco has now become the third smartphone brand in the country, which means that the brand is now behind Samsung and Xiaomi. "Poco is gaining momentum in the Indian smartphone market. Its smartphones like Poco C3 and Poco M2 were the main drivers of this growth," Shilpi Jain, Research Analyst, Counterpoint said.

The Poco C3 is available at Rs. 6,999. It has octa-core MediaTek Helio G35 SoC, 3GB RAM, and 32GB onboard storage. The smartphone supports GPS, 3G, 4G, and Wi-Fi. The smartphone features three colors, such as Matte Black, Arctic Blue, and Lime Green.Poco launched its first smartphone in February 2020 after becoming an independent brand. The Poco X2 is the most popular smartphone under Rs. 20,000; however, the company is now looking for budget smartphones due to the ongoing pandemic.