BoAt, an indian consumer electronics brand, used to manufacture all of its products in China, but the pandemic served as a rude awakening for the startup. In order to de-risk its manufacturing, it has begun manufacturing in vietnam and india over the last year. Currently, the company manufactures about 15 of its products in india with the assistance of local partners.

In india, where it competes with samsung and Apple, BoAt has quickly risen to capture nearly a third of the smartwatch and audio market. BoAt, an indian consumer electronics brand, used to manufacture all of its products in China, but the pandemic served as a rude awakening for the New Delhi-based startup. Aman Gupta, the company's founder, had to establish alternative factories in other countries.

Eighteen months later, the majority of boAt's manufacturing takes place in Vietnam. The recently unveiled production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme in india is appealing, but not sufficient for the firm to make india its largest production hub.

In just over 5 years, the startup, whose last reported valuation was Rs 2,200 crore (approximately $300 million), has quickly risen to capture nearly 30 percent of the audio segment in india — its earphones, in particular, have been popular — and nearly a third of the smartwatch segment, where it competes with the likes of samsung and Apple.

When multinational corporations sought to reduce their reliance on Chinese manufacturers, india saw an opportunity to entice some of them. Costs will be reduced as a result of the recently announced production-linked incentives in india, as well as the increased import duties. Even if the costs are reduced, the ecosystem has yet to mature.

As a result, vietnam is currently higher up the boAt ladder, owing to “high-quality manufacturing opportunities.” Another boon is the free trade agreement between india and the Southeast Asian country, which lowers import and export barriers between the two countries.