Alcatel Flash, a brand of Hong Kong-based TCL Communication, today said it is evaluating manufacturing in India to bolster its presence in the domestic market. The company, which today launched its latest handset 'Flash 2', priced at Rs 9,299 with e-commerce firm Flipkart, sees India as its top market in the South East Asia region. "India is a strategic market for us. It is the top market in the South East Asia region. We are evaluating whether we should manufacture here," Alcatel Flash General Manager Albert Wong told PTI. He added that though no firm plans have been drawn, the company will most likely partner with a third party to manufacture in India. [related-post] In the last few month, a bunch of handset makers like Xiaomi, Motorola and Gionee have started manufacturing operations in India in partnership with electronics major Foxconn. Being one of the fastest growing smartphone markets globally, India is poised to overtake the US as the second-largest market in the next few years. Shipments in India grew 44 per cent to 26.5 million units in April-June, as per research firm IDC. Talking about the new product, Wong said Alcatel Flash 2 has a strong focus on mobile photography. "We are working on building a community of enthusiasts rather than just selling phones here. We want to be more focused on the mobile photography feature. We will launch two devices next year," he said. Praveen Valecha, Regional Director at Alcatel Asia Pacific Business Unit India, said the company already has a team working across social networking and digital marketing in tandem with headquarters. The device features a 5-inch display, 1.3GHz octa core processor, 13MP rear and 5MP front camera, 2GB RAM, 16 GB memory (expandable up to 128GB) and 3,000 mAh battery.
