Factory operating at 20% capacity, following all safety protocols: Infinix

Chinese smartphone maker Infinix on Friday said its factory is running at about 20 percent capacity and production will be gradually ramped up in the coming weeks while ensuring all safety protocols are followed.

Speaking to PTI, Infinix India Chief Executive Officer Anish Kapoor said the production factory in Noida in Uttar Pradesh – which also makes phones for Transsion”s other brands – is now operational with capacity hovering around 20 percent.

Transsion Holding operates three phone brands in India – Infinix, Tecno and itel.

“We are in no hurry to scale it up quickly. We will comply with all regulations and ensure that all safety and health protocols are followed,” he said adding that the situation is dynamic and therefore, it is difficult to predict by when the unit will run at full capacity.

Just days after resuming operations, Chinese smartphone maker Oppo had suspended production earlier this month at its factory in Uttar Pradesh after its six workers were found to be infected by coronavirus.

Kapoor said the company plans to launch 4-5 products this year, and will also introduce accessories and smart TV in the later part of the year.

“The COVID-19 pandemic led to things getting a bit delayed. There were almost two months of lockdown and there were zero sales. Given the travel restriction, product planning cycles were also impacted. However, there is pent up demand in the market and we are lining up a rich product portfolio to cater to these demands,” he said.

The company on Friday announced the launch of HOT 9 and HOT 9 Pro smartphones in the sub-Rs 10,000 category. These devices feature AI quad rear camera, a 6.6-inch punch-hole display, 5,000 mAh battery, and are powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P22 processor with 4GB RAM/64GB memory.

After almost two months of lockdown, which began on March 25, business activities like opening of standalone stores and e-commerce delivery of non-essential items have now been allowed in most areas (except containment zones) depending on state regulations.

Most handset makers have resumed production after getting necessary approvals from state governments.

Smartphone shipment in the country is expected to decline 10 percent in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, even though the January-March quarter saw smartphone shipment growing at modest 4 percent with over 31 million units, according to Counterpoint Research.

Xiaomi led the market with 30 percent share of the smartphone shipment, followed by Vivo (17 percent), Samsung (16 percent), Realme (14 percent) and Oppo (12 percent) in the first quarter.

The research firm had said, “any signs of recovery will likely only start from the third quarter onwards”.

—Outlook India