Boosting local manufacturing and giving impetus to the government’s Make In India initiative, the electronics manufacturing services space has witnessed a lot of traction in recent years. Homegrown manufacturers are not only eyeing the expanding market of wearable and hearable devices in India, but also helping to reduce dependence on Chinese imports of electronic devices. Terabytes India Pvt. Ltd.(TIPL) is one such homegrown electronics manufacturing company that has created a name for itself in audio device design and manufacturing. Founded in 2004 as a distribution company for IT and electronics, TIPL forayed into the manufacturing of earphones and Bluetooth headsets in 2019. Today, TIPL has expanded its operations to various sub-segments of electronics and provides design-focused solutions to OEMs/ODMs for the manufacturing of audio devices such as earphones, headphones, TWS, Bluetooth neckbands, and speakers.
DeviceNext (DN) had the opportunity to interact with Mr. Rohit Jain, Founder of TIPL, who talked about the company’s growth plans and Indian market dynamics.
DN: Share your thoughts on the Indian electronic gadgets landscape and the growth drivers for this segment.
Rohit Jain: In the last recent years, Indian users have shown increased interest in gadgets and devices like Bluetooth Earphones/Headphones, TWS, smartwatches. Indian consumers these days are more aware of these devices and the applications that help in making daily life easy. Increased disposable income and awareness among Indian consumers are stimulating the growth of the gadgets market in India. An increase in Internet penetration is fuelling the adoption of gadgets across the country. India is one of the fastest-growing economies that is embracing 4G networks, and this is expected to trigger the growth of gadgets and devices.
DN: Tell us about your shift into manufacturing and what are your key focus areas for 2022?
Rohit Jain: For our in-house brand Sound One, we were procuring all the audio from China and other accessories like cables and chargers from India. We never found any supplier in India for portable audio products. So in 2019, we took up the challenge and started to manufacture Bluetooth earphones in India.
Today, we offer more than 50 models in Bluetooth Neckbands and more than 30 models in TWS. Looking at the shift of Indian consumers from Neckband to TWS, we will be aggressively working on more models and variations in this category. We will be also coming out with more than 10 models in the smartwatch category by early 2022 for our OEM customers.
DN: What are your expansion plans for OEMs/ODMs?
Rohit Jain: This year we are procuring all kinds of machines and equipment to start making most of the parts in India. This will remove our reliance on China to a great extent. Also, it will reduce our costs and help us become globally competitive with 100 percent in-house setup and R&D.
