After Apple, India’s smartphone manufacturing boom has entered a new phase with Vivo JV

India on Thursday approved a joint manufacturing venture between China’s Vivo and local manufacturer Dixon Technologies, a move that could mark the next phase of the country’s smartphone manufacturing boom after Apple helped transform India into a global smartphone production hub.

The approval allows Vivo to go ahead with a long-awaited manufacturing partnership that was first announced in December 2024, after New Delhi agreed to invest under investment rules introduced in 2020 that require additional government scrutiny of investment from countries that share a land border with India — a category that includes China. The joint venture will acquire certain manufacturing assets of Vivo, manufacture a portion of the company’s smartphone orders in India, and can also produce electronic products for other brands, according to a stock exchange filing by Noida-based Dixon.

The 51/49 venture – majority owned by Dixon, with Vivo holding the remaining stake – reflects a broader shift in how Chinese smartphone brands are expanding manufacturing in India through local partnerships. For an industry watching how governments judge the relationship between Chinese capital and local manufacturing, analysts believe the structure could become a model for similar arrangements across the industry, helping to expand India’s smartphone manufacturing story beyond Apple.

Over the past few years, India has emerged as a major global hub for smartphone manufacturing, as Apple and its suppliers expand iPhone production in the country while diversifying their supply chains outside of China. Government incentives also helped attract global electronics manufacturers, enhancing the country’s role in global smartphone production.

Apple has spent years building its manufacturing footprint in India, and today accounts for 57% of the country’s smartphone exports by volume, according to Counterpoint Research data shared with TechCrunch. On the other hand, Chinese brands dominate India’s smartphone market sales with 72% of the market, but contribute less than 10% of exports, a gap that shows how much upside is still on the table if they start exporting from India the way Apple does.

Apple’s manufacturing expansion in India has been largely driven by suppliers like Foxconn and Tata. Meanwhile, Chinese smartphone brands are increasingly exploring partnerships with Indian companies after New Delhi tightened investment rules for neighboring countries following border clashes with China in 2020. Many of these companies, including Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi, have also faced tax and regulatory probes in India in recent years, which helps explain why ceding majority control to an Indian partner now seems like the most sustainable path forward.

Local partnerships like the Dixon-Vivo project offer Chinese brands a more stable operating model, while aligning with India’s push to increase local participation in electronics manufacturing, said Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint Research.

“The approval of this joint venture creates a win-win for both players,” Pathak told TechCrunch. The majority Indian-owned structure provides Vivo with greater policy alignment while giving Dixon the scope to deepen domestic value addition and pursue exports, he added.

Vivo has been manufacturing and exporting smartphones from India for years, but the approved project represents a shift towards a majority Indian-owned manufacturing structure as the market leader deepens its footprint in the world’s second-largest smartphone market. The Chinese smartphone vendor retained the top spot in India’s smartphone market with a 23% shipment share in the first quarter, according to Counterpoint.

For Dixon, India’s largest electronics manufacturing services company, the project could add annual manufacturing volumes of about 20 million to 22 million smartphones, based on Vivo’s existing sales, according to comments by managing director Atul Lall during the company’s May earnings call. This is a significant increase in scale for a public company whose growth increasingly depends on winning exactly these types of manufacturing contracts.

Dixon already manufactures smartphones for Xiaomi, signaling that Vivo’s venture is building on a growing role as a manufacturing partner for both global and Chinese smartphone brands in India, and cementing its position as one of the most reliable bets in building electronics in India.