Samsung Likely to Bring Back Television Production to India

• Samsung is about to sign a deal with Dixon Technologies to manufacture television sets up to 55 inches in screen size
• Recently, Dixon Technologies entered into a partnership with Samsung to manufacture feature phones in India

According to a report by ET Telecom, Samsung is all set to bring back television production to India after a year with the government scrapping import duty.

People with knowledge of the matter informed the news daily that Samsung is about to sign a deal with Dixon Technologies to manufacture television sets up to 55 inches in screen size. They further stated that the South Korean company is also mulling options with other contract manufacturers to further expand local TV production in India.

Intense pressure from the government

They added that there was intense pressure from the government to restart production since its exit was a blot on the flagship Make in India programme. Senior Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) officials have held a series of meetings with Samsung India to understand the company’s plans.

Recently, Dixon Technologies entered into a partnership with Samsung to manufacture feature phones in India. It will be manufacturing these feature phones in its latest facility spread over 2.24 lakh square feet.

Dixon has been associated with Samsung’s home appliances business for the last two years. Samsung has recently terminated the production of its phones in China. The homegrown company manufactures televisions for brands such as Xiaomi, Panasonic, and Sanyo and will produce the Samsung televisions at its plant near Tirupati.

Currently, there are no domestic manufacturers of television panels in India. Samsung stopped TV production at its Chennai plant in October 2018 after a five per cent customs duty was levied on open cell panels.