Lenovo starts making smartphones

China's Lenovo said it has started making smartphones in India through contract manufacturer Flextronics, as it looks to cut cost to take on competition. The Flextronics' unit at Sriperumbudur near Chennai has already started rolling out two of Moto E smartphone's 4G variants and will start making another 4G device Lenovo K3 note, soon. The 40,000 square feet plant is the first to rollout both Lenovo and Motorola brands. Lenovo had acquired Motorola last year. The factory currently has a capacity of making 6 million smartphone units. The company said that both Lenovo and Motorola will have separate manufacturing lines at the same facility which will house 1,500 employees. The move follows Foxconn Technology beginning production of smartphones in the country for Chinese brands including Xiaomi and OnePlus after the government raised import tariffs to attract investment in manufacturing. Lenovo India Chairman and COO, Asia Pacific Amar Babu said that the company expects its partner to source about 30 per cent components locally. "We are talking to government to improve availability of components locally to improve the total value of devices."