InFocus, an American company backed by the world’s largest electronics contractor manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group, is foraying into the Indian market with the launch of a mid-segment smartphone. The company is expected to take on both home-grown and global handset manufacturers.

According to industry sources the company is expected to launch a 3G handset – M2 – by the first week of March, to be available on only Snapdeal.

The handset, priced below ₹5,500, will be placed in competition with products of home-grown companies such as Micromax and Lava. InFocus has appointed Delhi-based Vidur & Co as channel partners.

InFocus is backed by Taiwanese multinational electronics giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, which trades as Foxconn Technology Group. Foxconn is also an original equipment manufacturer, supplying components to Apple, Xiaomi and HTC. Vidur & Co, the New Delhi-based distributor, is believed to have imported about 6,000 M2 handsets from China to be sold over Snapdeal.com, the sources added.

When contacted, officials at Snapdeal and Vidur & Co declined to comment and Foxconn could not be immediately contacted.

The budget handset M2 is powered by a mid-range Snapdragon 400 processor and runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat. The touch-screen handset comes with a 4.2-inch display and supports LTE network. M2 is a dual-SIM handset and is shipped with an 8-MP rear Camera and 2-MP front camera, according to product specifications on InFocus’s website.

While M2 is the first product that would be brought in by InFocus, plans are afoot to bring in the brand’s best-selling handsets into the country, sources added.

According to numbers released by International Data Corporation (IDC), the smartphone market fell by 4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014, compared with the sequential quarter, the first time the Indian smartphone market has shrunk.

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