UPDATE 2-Amazon to make TV streaming device in India
(Adds minister comment, background)
NEW DELHI, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc willstart making its TV streaming device in India this year via aunit of Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn, theU.S. online retail giant said on Tuesday.
The Fire TV Stick will be made by Foxconn subsidiary CloudNetwork Technology in the southern city of Chennai, marking thefirst time one of Amazon's devices will be manufactured inIndia.
Amazon said hundreds of thousands of Fire TV Sticks would beproduced annually, helping it to meet demand from Indiancustomers.
"Amazon will continuously evaluate scaling capacity toadditional marketplaces/cities depending on the domesticdemand," the company said in a blog post.
The launch of conglomerate Reliance's telecomsventure Jio in 2016 began an era of cheap data tariffs in India,aiding the growth of video and audio streaming services such asNetflix and Amazon's Prime Video.
That in turn created a market for streaming devices such asthe Fire stick.
Seattle-based Amazon's move to make the device in Indiacoincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push to make thecountry a hub for electronics manufacturing to compete with thelikes of China and Taiwan.
New Delhi's local manufacturing drive has persuaded iPhonemakers Foxconn and Wistron to expand in India.Pegatron, another big contract manufacturer, has alsoset up base in the country.
The push has also helped India to become the world'ssecond-biggest mobile phone maker.
India's technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesdaywelcomed Amazon's move, adding that "Amazon should also workwith small local shops and make them a stakeholder in the largerefforts of Amazon to grow its business".
Last week India's trade minister said the government waslooking into foreign investment rules on e-commerce to ensurethat the industry followed the spirit of the regulations andmaintained a level playing field for all sellers on onlineplatforms.(Reporting by Sankalp PhartiyalEditing by Mark Potter and David Goodman)
