It’s called NavIC and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked all major high-tech companies to include it in their smartphones. However, the tech giants have complained about the high production costs they would have to bear. Meanwhile, India has also proposed financial incentives to replace China as a production base.
New Delhi ( / Agencies) – Apple moved the production of the new iPhone to India in the hope of not encountering problems. But he failed to take into account Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nationalist goals and his ambition to make India a superpower. In recent days, Delhi has pushed the American tech giant, Samsung and Xiaomi to make their smartphones compatible with NavIc, the Indian satellite navigation system. However, the large hi-tech companies are reluctant to agree to the request due to the high costs of converting production.
Prime Minister Modi pushes for the country’s self-sufficiency. And following this line, since 2018 India has expanded the use of NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) and has restricted the use of foreign navigation systems, the best known of which is the United States Global Positioning System (GPS). . The European Union, Russia and China also have their own satellite navigation systems. India is doing its best to be seen as a superpower on a par with these nations. However, in the case of the NavIC, its use is currently minimal even at the national level, since it is only mandatory for journeys in public vehicles. Only about 20 mobile phone models use it.
Visions of international greatness have led India to herald an increase in financial incentives for manufacturers of laptops and tablets (Apple especially) in an attempt to replace China as its main production base. A plan that had already been proposed last year, but that failed to attract large high-tech companies due to the limited financing that was offered (900 million dollars).
During a series of meetings held between August and September, India offered the support of the Indian space agency to modify the hardware of smartphones that will be sold from January 2023. Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi rejected the offer, but the matter could not end there: Delhi pointed out that GPS and the Russian Glonass system are operated by the defense agencies of their countries, which could interrupt the service at any time, affecting the civilian population. The Chinese Beidou system, on the other hand, is integrated into more than 90% of smartphones manufactured in China. Apple’s website claims that its mobile phones are compatible with all navigation systems, and Delhi is sticking to it by demanding the inclusion of NavIC.
But the problem has to do with the cost of dual-band chips that would have to be installed for smartphones to be compatible with the Indian satellite system, as well as GPS. Together, Samsung and Xiaomi hold 38% of the Indian smartphone market; they manage to keep the price of their products below $200 a piece and are reluctant to shell out high costs for small additional components that, at least for now, do not promise big profits.
