Make in India: Coolpad to invest Rs 30 crore for making smartphones here

Chinese handset-maker Coolpad will invest over Rs. 30 crores in the country in manufacturing, research and development (R&D) and design as it launched a new smartphone - Coolpad Note 3 - priced at Rs. 8,999 on Friday. The company also said it will partner with Videocon to manufacture smartphones in the country and will roll out nearly half a million devices from its facility in Maharashtra. “The first Made-in-India Coolpad phone will be available in the first quarter of 2016,” Coolpad vice president Johnson Luo said. “India is very crucial market for Coolpad and we believe we will learn a lot from our investments here. We are here to bring affordable smartphones to the users,” Luo added. Coolpad, which produces nearly 34 million smartphones every year and has $3 billion (roughly Rs. 19,430 crores) revenue, had earlier launched in India with the Dazen brand name which was a partnership between Coolpad and Chinese search engine Qihoo 360. “Dazen is no longer a part of Coolpad and has been separated due to a change in investor relations,” Luo said alluding that Coolpad’s 18 percent stake is also owned by Chinese giant LeTV which is also thinking of launching its business in India. Dazen will continue to sell its smartphones in India under the same brand name. The company, which was the first to invent dual-SIM dual standby, is betting on the 4G revolution, Indian local language support and customisations for India to push sales of its devices. The new smartphone, Coolpad Note 3, will be launched in an exclusive partnership with e-commerce player Amazon. IANS