?Huawei to start single brand retail and local manufacturing

China- based smartphone producer, Huawei is considering applying for single-brand retail licence in India and starting local manufacturing, reports ET. The move is aimed at deepening its footprint in the world's fastest growing market for handsets.

If it does apply, Huawei will be the third brand after Apple and Xiaomi to take this retail route. "We are evaluating single-brand retail in India," Allen Wang, President, Huawei India Consumer Group, told ET.

On local manufacturing, Wang said: “Huawei's tax and legal teams are studying the government's policies, and the company will take a measured call on making in India. In the 2015-16 budget, the government had given a duty differential of about 12% to companies assembling phones in India. For the coming fiscal, it has maintained this differential and created a 27%) differential for locally manufacturing batteries, chargers and wired headsets, as it attempts to bring full-scale manufacturing in the country.”

The world's third largest phone vendor by volume will begin selling its smartphones through its own online portal for India - hihonor.com - followed by other consumer products, while it will continue selling devices with existing online partners Flipkart and Amazon.

Huawei, which has a 1-2% share of the smartphone market in India, wants to increase it to 2-3% by the end of 2016, and has set a target of tripling sales this year from the 1 million it clocked in 2015. The company follows a January-December financial year. "We will launch a new flagship smartphone in the premium segment," Wang said. Huawei, known for its technology prowess and association with premium and high tech smartphones is available through a robust and strong retail distribution network.