Xiaomi to make wireless audio products in India

NEW DELHI/BENGALURU (Reuters) -Xiaomi Corp's Indian arm will start making wireless audio products in the country through a partnership with electronics manufacturer Optiemus in a push to further localise its operations, the company said on Monday.

Xiaomi India will make its first local audio gadget at Optiemus Electronics' factory in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the company said in a statement, reiterating that it was targeting a 50% increase in the production of components locally sourced by 2025.

The push comes as the manufacturer of the Redmi brand of smartphones recently lost out to South Korean rival Samsung as India's top smartphones company.

The company did not say what kind of audio product it will make in the Indian factory, but it is "committed to forging more such collaborations for a wider range of categories, across our product line-up."

Xiaomi, which locally manufactures most of the smartphones and TVs it sells in India, did not say when it will start making the audio products. It sells speakers, ear-buds, wired and wireless headphones in India.

The Indian government has been pushing global companies to invest in local manufacturing as a part of its vision to make the country self-reliant.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi, writing by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)