As India and China are involved in a tense border face-off, there is a rapidly rising anti-China sentiment across the country. Indians are determined to boycott all Chinese goods but it is easier said than done as Indian market is inundated with Chinese goods especially the Indian smartphone market. Lucknow’s market which is completely dominated by Chinese smartphones as it occupies 70% of the local market. There is a huge lull in Lucknow’s market as sales of Chinese phones in Lucknow have fallen by 20% due to the clashes at the Galwan Valley.
In a development which indicates the growing anger against Chinese goods, Lucknow’s smartphone market is witnessing an unprecedented dip in the sales of Chinese smartphones. In the last five days, the local market has witnessed a 20% in the sale of Chinese smartphones in a market which is completely dominated by Chinese companies. Such is the anger among the public that an Oppo showroom in Lucknow has recorded zero sales in the last five days.
According to local businessmen, everyone who now comes to buy a smartphone makes it a point to ask where the phones are manufactured and if they happen to be made in China, about 50% of people change their mind and opt not to buy Chinese smartphones. Even the customers who do end up buying Chinese smartphones, do so because of lack of options.
The latest developments has resulted in shopkeepers unwilling to sell Chinese smartphones according to Lucknow Mobile Association president Neeraj Johar.
There was a time when Indian brands like Micromax, Karbonn, and Lava were the flavour of the nation before the Chinese companies beat the Indian companies both in terms of price and technology. As momentum for boycotting Chinese products gathers space in the backdrop of the tense border face-off at the LAC, it can well prove to be a revival moment for Micromax, Karbonn, and Lava.
It seems that the troika is all set to make a comeback as Micromax, Karbonn and Lava are preparing to announce new smartphones in India which will be launched between entry-level to mid-range segment.
Micromax has gotten increasingly active on Twitter and has asked its fans to gear up as the company is all set to make a return in the Indian smartphone market so as to cash in on the rising anti-China sentiment in the country.
Meanwhile, Karbonn Mobiles is slated to launch two new smartphones by the end of September with both of them being priced under Rs 10,000 and the company is working on a clean and robust UI which is the hallmark of the Chinese companies. The upcoming Lava Z66 has already been spotted on GeekBench which signals an imminent release.
In a significant development, after the Central government’s policy announcements, Lava has also announced that it will be shifting its China operations to India and will invest Rs 800 crore in the next five years to scale up its operations in India.
We had around 600-650 employees in China for product design. Now we have shifted designing to India. Our sales requirements for India were met by our local plant. We used to partially export mobile phones from China to the rest of the world, which will now happen from India,” said Chairman and Managing Director of Lava International, Hari Om Rai. He further added, “My dream is to export mobile devices to China. Indian companies are already exporting mobile chargers to China. The production linked incentive scheme has ended our disability factor vis-a-vis export from China. Therefore entire operations will now be carried from India.”
It seems that this is a revival moment for the Indian companies as they are capitalising on the anti-China sentiment as there are growing calls across the country for boycotting Chinese goods, including Chinese smartphones.