Sources: Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi express concerns over India's home-grown GPS plan, arguing integrating the system would be costly and require new hardware
India is pushing tech giants to make smartphones compatible with its home-grown navigation system within months …
Reuters
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@munsifv
@munsifv
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#Exclusive: Indian govt is pushing smartphone makers to make their devices compatible with a homegrown alternative for GPS navigation system. Govt wants mandatory support for its GPS-rival NavIC in ALL smartphones sold from Jan. 2023. Why is this a big move?⤵️ https://twitter.com…
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@munsifv
@munsifv
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But its easier said than done. In private meetings in Aug and Sept, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Apple pushed back saying the devices would require complex hardware changes to make it happen. Industry is seeking extension till January 2025, citing cost and supply chain challenges.
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@munsifv
@munsifv
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A key concern for players like Samsung and Xiaomi remains higher costs of chipsets and other components they would need to support NavIC in India, as these companies are leaders in the sub-$200 category in India's price-sensitive market.
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@adityakalra
Aditya Kalra
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That has concerned the industry. In private meetings in August and September, representatives of Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung pushed back, citing worries that making phones NavIC-compliant would mean higher research and production costs. They want timeline to be extended to 2025.
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@adityakalra
Aditya Kalra
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Reuters Story: India's push for home-grown navigation system jolts smartphone giants. New Delhi wants tech giants to make smartphones compatible with its NavIC system within months, worrying the likes of Samsung, Xiaomi & Apple. Here are all the details https://www.reuters.com/..…
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@vashtalk
Vashishtha Doshi
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This is how you put in place the building blocks of autonomy. Good job, India. Now, a sovereign cloud strategy https://twitter.com/...
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@adityakalra
Aditya Kalra
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But NavIC's uptake has been minimal so far. Today, @Reuters is reporting government documents that show India wants to broaden its use and has been pushing smartphone giants to make hardware changes to support NavIC, in addition to GPS, in new phones from January 2023
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@adityakalra
Aditya Kalra
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And another lobbying push from smartphone players is to convince the Indian government to make NavIC available on the so-called L1 satellite frequency which is already used by GPS, and not only on the L5 frequency used by New Delhi. Story with @MunsifV https://www.reuters.com/...
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@adityakalra
Aditya Kalra
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Samsung told govt officials: “This would add to cost as it requires hardware design changes and additional investments to support devices specific to India. Further, the companies have already prepared for models to be launched in 2024.”
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@adityakalra
Aditya Kalra
on x
For procuring NavIC-compliant chipsets, most smartphone makers are reliant on global giants such as U.S. chip designer Qualcomm and Taiwan's MediaTek. But voluntary use of such chipsets has been limited in India as phone manufacturers remain hesitant to add the extra components