Chinese budget smartphone maker Infinix Mobility is in talks for a slew of retail deals in Mexico as it plans to make the country a key market in the next three years.
(Bloomberg) — Chinese budget smartphone maker Infinix Mobility is in talks for a slew of retail deals in Mexico as it plans to make the country a key market in the next three years.
The unit of Shenzhen Transsion Holdings Co., a fast-growing Chinese device maker with a market capitalization of $14.8 billion, Infinix already has a deal with government-run mobile service provider Altan Redes and is in talks with AT&T and Carlos Slim-owned Telcel, said Antonio Tercero, head of Infinix Mexico, in an interview.
The company is also negotiating with Millicom for a partnership to sell phones in Central America.
“Mexico is our strategic market for the next three years,” he said. “With the increase of consumer power in Mexico, we have the potential and good conditions to become a really mature market here.”
Representatives for Telcel and AT&T declined to comment.
Infinix is among a handful of Chinese budget device makers, including Realme and Oppo, that are setting sights on Latin America. The company, which saw growth of 172% in device sales globally during the pandemic, launched Latin America operations in Colombia in 2022 and has since expanded to Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile and Central America.
Now, it’s focusing on Mexico, where it aims for a 5% market share, said Yuou Chen, marketing director for Latin America.
- The company is targeting the market for phones between 2,000 Mexican pesos ($116) and 15,000 Mexican pesos ($876)
- It declined to give an estimate of how much it is investing or how many employees it has in the region
- It is not currently assessing manufacturing phones in Mexico, as that would be decided by its parent company Transsion
–With assistance from Andrea Navarro.
(Updates with AT&T decline to comment in fifth paragraph.)
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