Noida-based Dixon Technologies, one of the leading domestic contract manufacturers, expressed strong confidence in quadrupling its business over the next 4-5 years, indicating an expected growth rate of 35-40% annually.
During the company’s Q3FY24 earnings call, Managing Director Atul Lall responded to a question on how Dixon views the future growth potential with its strengthened competitive position.
“We feel that the growth journey with a strong balance sheet will carry on. We have the capability and bandwidth to execute this,” Lall said.
When specifically asked if a possibility to quadruple the business in 4-5 years with a growth rate of 35-40% seems realistic, Lall responded positively.
“Well, don’t hold me on to it, but I definitely feel that it’s a realistic possibility. I’m not giving any forecast or any numbers. But I think internally, we are excited about this opportunity. And we feel that, that is a reality,” he emphasized.
The optimism stems from Dixon’s pole position in multiple product categories and the huge opportunity to cater to electronic manufacturing outsourcing needs of both global and domestic brands.
With an aim to capture over 40% share of India’s mobile phone outsourcing market through contracts with leading brands like Motorola, Xiaomi, and the addition of two more major brands, the mobile business will be the biggest growth driver for Dixon.
SMARTPHONES
The management has set up the capabilities and infrastructure to manufacture 30 million smartphones annually. Other businesses like consumer electronics, home appliances, laptops and tablets are also expected to see steady double-digit growth.
In this segment, the company is aggressively ramping up its smartphone production capacity through new facilities, contracts with major brands, and planned billion-dollar investment outlays.
It planning to add more capacity to the extent of 860,000 sq ft.
Motorola remains Dixon’s largest customer, with 28-30% of its output being exported. The company manufactures almost 15% of Motorola’s global smartphone volumes, expected to rise further.
“The ramp-up in Motorola volumes was very significant. And almost 28% to 30% of what we are going to manufacture is going to be for exports to U.S. market,” said Atul Lall, Managing Director.
Dixon has already begun mass production for Xiaomi after setting up dedicated manufacturing capacity. It aims to further scale up volumes starting April 2024.
The company is also gearing up to onboard two major new Indian smartphone brands, including one of the top 3-4 players. With agreements in final stages, commercial production is set to commence over the next 2-6 months.
Lall stated that Dixon has created 50 million phones per year capacity, of which 30 million is allocated for smartphones. The strong order pipeline gives confidence for utilization of the added capacity.
By catering to both domestic and overseas demand through partnerships with market-leading brands, Dixon seems to have built a competitive edge that will fuel its next growth phase in the coming years.
DUTY CUT ON SMARTPHONES
The company, which has been pushing for producing more and more components in India, said it doesn’t expect a sharp impact on its operations from the surprise announcement in the Union Budget to reduce import duties on mobile phone components.
However, India’s leading contract manufacturer Dixon Technologies clarified that the cut in display panel import duties from 10% to 5% does not materially alter the business case for local display production.
“There is a strong conviction that there is a strong case for setting up an indigenous infrastructure for display (manufacturing) at 10% arbitrage also,” said Saurabh Gupta, CFO at Dixon.
He added that at the scale Dixon envisions for its smartphone business, catering to almost 40-45% of domestic manufacturing requirements, the duty differential offers substantial cost savings.
The management suggested that its plans for a potential backward integration into mobile phone components like displays and modules remain intact.
Earlier during the call, Dixon MD Atul Lall had indicated plans for smartphone component manufacturing is at a “conceptualization and study state”. He reiterated that the opportunity for local value-addition remains significant.
NON-SMARTPHONE BUSINESS
The company still gets most of its revenue from mature segments like consumer electronics and home appliances, which continue to grow at a steady pace.
In the TV segment, Dixon registered 8% value growth year-over-year, shipping over 4 lakh units. The company also highlighted new initiatives in this segment:
“We have rolled out India’s first ODM-based Google TV solutions from Google in the quarter under review and we’re getting an encouraging response with some of the brands already taking the solution,” said Atul Lall, MD of Dixon. ODM refers to original design manufacturer, or someone who draws up their own designs instead of depending on other brands.
It has also partnered with Samsung for their Tizen OS to expand smart TV offerings for domestic brands. Dixon enabled manufacturing of interactive flat panel displays and expects healthier margins and order flow in coming quarters.
On the home appliances front, Dixon’s washing machine volumes grew 35% YoY to over 4 lakh units. Its new facility in Dehradun is ready for mass production across various categories.
With strong backward integration efforts, Dixon has established in-house manufacturing for most mechanical parts and tools needed for appliance production.
Senior leadership reiterated that Dixon continues to diversify product mix and drive scale as part of its long-term strategy across both these business segments.
Riding on its early-mover advantage and deep partnership with leading consumer brands, Dixon is cementing its leadership in Indian consumer electronics and durables market.