Top Smartphone EMS Companies in India

Foxconn led the EMS manufacturing in India with a 63% share.

Xiaomi, Realme, Huawei, HONOR, and Nokia were the biggest OEMs partners for EMS players.

However, other key brands like Samsung, vivo, and OPPO are assembling in-house only.

Foxconn became the number one smartphone EMS (Electronics Manufacturing Services) company in India during 2018, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s India ODM-OEM service. EMS partners manufactured nearly half of India’s smartphone shipments in 2018.

Top three EMS companies manufactured 82% of the total Indian smartphone shipmentscoming from EMS companies in 2018. OEMs are now partnering with multiple EMS players to expand their production in India, which was not the case earlier. It will help the OEMs to produce mass volumes and reduce costs as most of them play on thin margins.

More than 100 smartphone EMS players are manufacturing in India, pushed by the ‘Make in India’ initiative, a flagship campaign of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. However, very few have the scale to serve big players. The leading EMS players are transitioning from “SKD” to “CKD” to save on import duties and increase localization. The escalating China-US trade war is also pushing Chinese manufacturers to relocate some of the production to countries outside China. India can present itself as a good alternative to the supply chain and component players. Not only does it offer huge local demand, but it can also serve as an export hub for other regions.

Market Summary:

• Xiaomi and Nokia were the primary partners for Foxconn in 2018.
• HiPad had the second largest market share (12%) among EMS companies, driven by Realme and Xiaomi.
• Huawei-HONOR dual brand led Flextronics to third place with a 7% share.
• Xiaomi, Realme, Huawei, HONOR, and Nokia were the biggest OEMs partners for EMS players.
• Some key brands, like Samsung, Vivo, and OPPO, are assembling in-house only.