Tough times are coming for vivo. Original author: Wang Siyuan, Editor: Sai Ke

As the European Cup heats up, vivo, as an official partner, has garnered attention from global consumers. However, at the same time in the Indian market, vivo is facing the situation of being forced to withdraw.

According to Indian media reports, the Indian government has asked Tata Group to hold at least 51% of the shares of vivo India, and the joint venture company needs to be led by an Indian company with a localized marketing network.

Since 2022, vivo and other Chinese mobile phone manufacturers have faced strict scrutiny in India, experiencing multiple bank account freezes and high security deposit requirements, reflecting the continuous advancement of India's "Make in India" strategy.

vivo's first slogan when going overseas was "More Local, More Global," emphasizing deep localization: building factories locally, employing local talent from top executives to assembly line workers. Currently, this "more local" approach has, to a certain extent, given India's manufacturing industry the confidence to "kick down the ladder" after crossing the river.

As the second-largest mobile phone market in the world, India has always been the focus of competition among major mobile phone brands. However, the setbacks encountered by vivo in the Indian market undoubtedly cast a shadow over its overseas expansion plans.

Fortunately, the quadrennial European Cup "rolls back," giving vivo a breather. But looking at vivo overall, apart from the difficulties in overseas markets, both the high-end and low-end markets are facing dilemmas, and these issues that touch on the fundamentals are precisely vivo's hidden worries.

Part.1

Defeats in India, Fierce Competition in Europe

vivo's first stop overseas was India, but it has been a tough nut to crack for 10 years.

In 2014, founder Shen Wei personally led a group of domestic agents to inspect, aiming directly at the Indian market. The following year, vivo began to build factories in India, leading distributors to set up stores, using localization strategies in thinking, culture, and management to serve local consumers. With its extreme localization approach and high-cost-performance products, vivo became a regular top three in the Indian smartphone market in just three years.

Landing overseas in the era of globalization is easy, but taking root often means needing to pay more. Therefore, vivo chose a different approach from domestic manufacturers like Xiaomi, not cooperating with other companies but building its own factories on a scale comparable to its domestic factories.

Data shows that through various investments, vivo's smartphone production base in India will be close to the scale of its two factories in China, and vivo will also become one of the mobile phone brands investing the most in India, comparable to Samsung Electronics of South Korea.

But the huge investment was repaid with India's "kicking down the ladder." Since October 2021, when Indian authorities fired the first salvo of scrutiny, more and more Indian government departments have begun to target Chinese mobile phone manufacturers, occasionally resorting to bullying tactics such as fines, freezing funds, and arresting Chinese employees. Now, Tata Group's intention to acquire at least 51% of vivo India's shares is adding insult to injury.

Although it is becoming increasingly difficult to make money in India, between making