Related Keywords: Datawind|Akash-Tablets
Datawind to launch 2K smartphone soon
TNN | Nov 23, 2014, 12.43AM IST
HYDERABAD: Canadian low-cost tablet and mobile devices maker Datawind, which shot to fame with its Akash tablets, will launch its new smartphone at a mindboggling Rs 2,000 in a few weeks. Datawind will also set up its second Indian manufacturing unit in central India, said a top official of the company here on Saturday.
"We had gone for an initial public offer (IPO) on Toronto Stock Exchange in July this year. A majority of the proceeds (of the Canadian Dollars 30 million) will be used towards investing in expansion activities in India. We are expected to announce the location of our second manufacturing unit in the country in January 2015. All I can reveal is that it will be in central India," Datawind chief executive officer Suneet Singh Tuli said on the sidelines of the Young India (Yi) Youth Conclave organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.
In India, the company has a manufacturing unit at Amritsar, where it makes touch-screen panels with a capacity of 50,000-60,000 units per month. Apart from Amritsar, the company has a unit in Montreal, Canada, with a similar capacity.
The company, which clocked revenues of £14 million for the financial year that ended March 31, 2014, is now eyeing doubling its revenues this fiscal, said Tuli, adding that currently 70% of its turnover comes from India.
Meanwhile, speaking about the unveiling of its new smartphone at Rs 2,000 that will come bundled with one year free internet access, he said that the phone is expected to be launched in the next few weeks.
