Samsung and OnePlus have announced plans to manufacture most of their televisions locally in India. The companies are considering it to benefit from the zero import duties on the key component – open cell TV panel. Also, this will help them prevent any issues with the supply chain in the future.
In 2018, the Indian government imposed duties on open cell TV panels. This made Samsung halt its TV production in the country. Since then, the company has been importing finished products from Vietnam at zero duties through the free trade agreement route.
But now, as the government had reduced the duties on open cell panels to zero in 2019, Samsung has once again decided to manufacture TVs in India along with OnePlus according to three senior industry executives.
Open cell panel accounts for 70% of a TV’s manufacturing cost. Thus, the taxes levied on it play a key role in where the companies produce their televisions.
According to the report by The Economic Times, both Samsung and OnePlus have partnered with Chinese electronics company Skyworth to manufacture their TVs in its Hyderabad facility.
This marks OnePlus’ entry into making TVs in India like its smartphones. The company has announced to launch budget smart TVs in July. This will help it in the long run.
Additionally, Samsung has also expanded its existing partnership with Indian contract manufacturer Dixon Technologies to manufacture TVs ranging between 43 to 58-inches. Dixon has been producing 32-inch and 43-inch TV models for Samsung since January 2020. But now, that contract has been given to Skyworth.
Samsung has revealed that about 85-90% televisions sold in India will be now manufactured locally. Apart from these two companies, LG, Sony, Xiaomi, and Panasonic have already been making TVs in the country.
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