Lenovo expands manufacturing capabilities for PCs, notebooks, smartphones in India

Tech major Lenovo on Thursday said it is significantly ramping up its local manufacturing capabilities in India across product categories like PCs, notebooks and smartphones to meet the increasing customer demand.

While the company did not disclose the investment being made, Lenovo said it is expanding in India across all business lines, including PC and smart devices, smartphones, infrastructure solutions, and especially in the newly established services and solutions group.

Lenovo has expanded its in-house PC manufacturing plant in Puducherry to include a third manufacturing line, while it has started local manufacturing of its tablet computers in partnership with Wingtech Technology in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.

In addition, smartphones for Motorola (a Lenovo group company) are now locally manufactured in partnership with Dixon Technologies at Noida, Uttar Pradesh, a statement said.

"These initiatives strengthen Lenovo's commitment to the government's vision of 'AtmaNirbhar Bharat'. They also form part of Lenovo's global manufacturing and supply chain strategy that serves customers in 180 markets from 30-plus manufacturing sites around the world – including Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico, and the US," it added.

According to IDC, the total PC market size in India is expected to rise to more than 15 million units by 2022, compared to 10 million units in 2020.

Total revenue for all Lenovo Group businesses in India was approximately USD 462 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, representing year-on-year growth of 31.3 per cent.

The Tirupati facility now produces a broad range of Lenovo tablets that meet the needs of consumers, educators, and students, as well as those for specialised functions such as retail, manufacturing, and healthcare, the statement said.

The Lenovo Puducherry plant, which has been operational since 1999, had previously been expanded to include Lenovo's popular IdeaPad notebook computers from its consumer portfolio.

Now, with the addition of a third production line, the facility has begun manufacturing products across Lenovo's full consumer and commercial range, including desktops, notebooks, and workstations, the statement said.

This represents a 100 per cent capacity increase over the previous year, it added.

"Lenovo has invested significantly in automating and digitizing the facility, to ensure an efficient, seamless manufacturing process. There is also a common testing area for all products and common packaging lines. With this expansion, every product will now have its own configuration and test methodology," it said.

Motorola, a Lenovo group company, was one of the first companies to commit to the PLI (Production Linked Incentive) program launched by the government of India. It has partnered with Dixon to manufacture nearly 100 per cent of its smartphones for customers in India and has also begun exporting to selected nearby markets.

To support these local manufacturing initiatives, Lenovo has also invested in employment and skill building, and more than 1,500 direct and indirect employees work across these three manufacturing plants currently.

"In line with our sincere commitment to manufacture locally, the expansion of our manufacturing capabilities in India will help us offer innovative devices of highest quality, produced here and rapidly brought to market," Shailendra Katyal, Managing Director at Lenovo India, said.

He added that with its operations, the company aims to generate employment and skill building opportunities, and to bring its advanced, sustainable manufacturing technologies to India.