Coimbatore : With increasing demand for smartphones, Delhi-headquartered Comio is starting its own manufacturing unit by the end of the year, the location for which was being identified, a top company official said today.

The company, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Tapwise Communication Co Ltd, is focusing on the mid-segment with a price range of Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000, contributing 40 per cent of the 10 to 12 million handsets per month in India, Comio sales general manager Sujith Rayirath told reporters here.

With an expected growth of 20 to 25 per cent in another two years, the company was negotiating with many State governments to start a manufacturing unit, with an investment of Rs 250 crore, which would become operational by the turn of the year, Sujith, who launched two mobile phones, said.

Comio, which launched operations in last August had so far 6 lakh handsets and targeted to sell 3 million in this financial year, he said. The handsets were launched in South India a month ago with 25,000 phones being activated and Tamil Nadu accounting for 10,000.

He launched Comio CIPRO priced at Rs 5,599 and Comio X1 Note which are present was being manufactured by a third party for the company and sold at Rs 9,999.