I have not doubt that PRC and PRC company are good at making cheap (not necessarily with good quality and advanced products) under its current political and representative structure. And to be frank it needs to get a little more respect that it supported the world in making cheap man made goods and also transitioned many western economies from manufacturing to service based and automated manufacturing.
If ones budget is INR 6000 the PRC made smartphone brands will be better in specs since they can do that on large scale unlike OEMs. The OEMs will be unable to compete and further why would the PRC brands want to allow them to (possible cartel behavior). Thats why I believe Micromax will eventually move to make on their own.
But if ones budget in the Smartphone range is higher and of the Iphones and Samsungs it is a different ball game. It is like with most electronic goods now a days you get the PRC made cheap goods and a bunch of consolidated companies at the higher end. The question of quality also comes in but that is a different topic. But still it is a big pie - Money is money.
But I like to look and read further and understand how can PRC manage this without any problems. As mentioned earlier it's a highly competitive market the number of factories in PRC are astonishing and massive scale and the economic climate is not that wonderful to sustain all. Also it is unheard of to read any bankruptcy and failed business in PRC. Is what is happening in PRC done by free market practice where the best deserve to be the best probably not. There must be a massive amount of failures and also not all low end customers pay on time. There are too many PRC manufacturers of Smartphone. For example DVD players manufactures.
Either-way the people in PRC are getting paid in Yuan and thats what matters to keep them happy and not worry about the many bankruptcy and failed business. Also there is the thinking that the few profitable ventures that spring up can generate enough profits to cover the losses of others in the financial and banking sector - non-performing assets (thats the risk). The closest one can think about similar is when Germany during 1930-40s was able to repeat such a business manufacturing model (that depend on people work and not free market and accounting and external collaboration and transparency). Again this can be countered by some to say that is nonsense it is because of the low interest rate in PRC and regions nearby and it can be lowered to zero to safeguard massive financial default(s) - keep printing money.
Web of Debt - Thinking Outside The Box: How A Bankrupt Germany Solved Its Infrastructure Problems
Anyway returning to smartphone - At this moment there is not much difference between the higher end smart phone and the INR 6000 device if one looks closely. I feel this way to get maximum out of the money spent and it has been like this for decades the PRC manufactures do this in many electronic fields. But the beauty with technology is that it is evolving. When Lenovo bought IBM that was pivot point in the market dynamics and the same has happened with Motorola. One can term it consolidation i would term it PRC manufacturing absorption and discovery and knowledge of making cheap goods on their own (like mentioned from screen to chip). The important word is cheap.
When I change the phone next time i will look at PRC made device definitely why i need to pay more money if it is not worth to do that. But i am not saying that there might be other good choices and I might end up paying more. Its the same in PRC they prefer Iphones and Samsungs if given the choice. But anyway it is good for people it makes more competition and better choice. I definitely am happy India is able to get such a access to cheap PRC goods because I know what happens in India when competition is not there. There is huge profits to be made in India. But national interest first and I dont want India to get harm in anyway it works both ways.
Added later**
There is also a question about being made cheap to penetrate refer to the chips and spyware and infringe in privacy (that is much in the news and everyone is doing it it seems). Everyone is doing it seems. Perhaps PRC company willing to make a loss and not big profits on purpose to penetrate more compared to others.
