Amazon.com Inc will start making its TV streaming device in India this year at a unit of Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn, the U.S. online retail giant said on Tuesday. The Fire TV Stick will be made by Foxconn subsidiary Cloud Network Technology in the southern city of Chennai, marking Amazon's first foray into having one of its devices manufactured in India.
Amazon said hundreds of thousands of Fire TV Sticks would be produced per year, helping it meet the demand in India.
"Amazon will continuously evaluate scaling capacity to additional marketplaces/cities depending on the domestic demand," the company said in a blog post.
The launch of conglomerate Reliance's telecoms venture Jio in 2016 began an era of cheap data tariffs in India, aiding the growth of video and audio streaming services such as Amazon's Prime Video and Netflix. This has created a huge market for streaming devices such as the Fire stick.
US-based Amazon's move to make the device in India coincides with India's push to make the country a hub for electronics manufacturing to compete with other Asian nations such as China and Taiwan, and create jobs.
India has attracted iPhone makers Foxconn and Wistron to expand in India so far, and another key contract manufacturer Pegatron has also set up base to make the country become the world's second-biggest mobile maker.
Amazon is joining electronics giants such as Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. in making devices like phones and tablets in India, besides many Chinese manufacturers.
