Hussain Saify
Hyderabad: As the tensions between the two countries continue to escalate Chinese mobiles are likely to be next on the line to be banned in India.
Brands like Oppo, Vivo, One Plus, Realme, Xiaomi etc. that are ruling the Indian mobile market could be among the most affected if the decision in that direction is taken.
Earlier on Monday, the decision of India banning Chinese applications was taken for the security reasons.
A total of 59 applications have been banned; prominent among them are Tiktok, SHARE it, UC Browser, Club Factory, We Chat, Parallel Space and two of Xiaomi’s applications.
The ministry of Information and technology had invoked Section 69 A of the Information and Technology Act on 29th June 2020.
The ministry claims that the apps are “Prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order”. The apps were removed by Google and Apple from play store and app store.
However, all the companies have been invited before the government panel to give clarification over the issue, which will decide if the ban will stay or will be relaxed?
In a statement released TikTok says it had not shared any information of users in India with “any foreign government, including the Chinese government”.
TikTok application stands to be most affected by this move, as India is the largest driver of the application and its Parent Company Bytedance is at a shocking crossroad as it had plans of investing $1 billion in the country.
“China is strongly concerned,” said Foreign Ministry officials in the neighbouring country.
The sentiment of boycotting China has been in full swing since 15th of June when 20 of India soldiers were killed on Indo – China border situated in Galwan Valley, Ladakh Region.
Applications
India has also come up with an idea of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ or Self Sufficient India for which the government has announced worth Rs 20 lakh crore package.
The bigger question which comes into the picture is that if not for these Chinese apps do we have Indian apps to smoothly replace so that firstly the data remains safe in the country and secondly the revenue generated floats within and keeps multiplying.
India undoubtedly has successfully launched and established a wide range of mobile phones like Intex Technologies, Iball, Micromax Informatics, Videocon, Karbonn Mobiles, Onida Electronics, Spice Digital etc.
However, brands like Oppo, Vivo, One Plus, Lenovo, Xiaomi Redmi have been giving a strong competition to the Indian brands.
The data of the first quarter of 2020 has a story of its own to say. Samsung, a South Korean company, controls 16% share of the Indian market while most of the rest is in the grip of Chinese companies like Vivo, Oppo, Realme and Xiaomi. What is left for all other players together is a mere 11 %.
One of the reasons for these brands growing wildly in India can be attributed to the smart market strategy of these brands. For instance, Oppo has Deepika, Vivo Amir Khan, Realme Salman Khan while Ranvir Singh promotes Xiaomi. The brands have come into the market in a very Indianised approach and hence have received the acceptance.