Chinese mobile phone major Bird is considering setting up a manufacturing facility in India and will take a decision after discussing with partner suppliers, including software developers, back home.
"We are evaluating the possibility of setting up manufacturing base here," Bird International director Kin Ping Wong said on Friday, adding that India would, however, be its hub for software development.
He said the company was in talks with some IT companies for software development.
Bird registered a turnover of over $2 billion in 2004 and is the largest mobile phone manufacturer in China. The company has started marketing its mobile phones presently only in the GSM segment since May this year.
"We are also talking to mobile service providers like AirTel and Hutch for bundling of mobile phones. We have a low-end model priced at about Rs 2,500. We may announce some scheme of bundling with service providers during the coming festival season," he added.
The company has set a target of grabbing five per cent market share in the Indian mobile phone market both in the GSM and CDMA segments.
For CDMA handsets the company is in talks with leading service provider Reliance Infocomm, Adarsh Shastri, heading Indian marketing operations said.
Bird has already set up a 100 per cent subsidiary -- Ningbo Bird Sales -- in Noida, Shastri said.
