Traders at Jagadish Market in Hyderabad are worried for the last few days that their huge stocks of Chinese mobiles might not be cleared this festival season. Reason? A viral campaign in social media that Indians should boycott Chinese goods as a mark of their protest against the country’s tacit support to Pakistan in the wake of Uri terror attacks last month. Those on the social media are furious over China’s plans to construct a dam across Brahmaputra river in Tibet so as to decrease the water flow into India, as solidarity with Pakistan which might lose water due to review of five decades old Indus water treaty.
As the campaign on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp has specifically targeted the Chinese made mobiles, thousands of shops are already feeling the heat, with a drastic dip in sales compared to the last year. Chinese mobiles account for around 35 per cent of total budget smartphones in the country and the same is above 50% in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
There are messages urging people to buy only Indian mobiles, resulting in a spurt in their sales of late, sources confined.
This Diwali season might turn out inauspicious for Chinese not only for mobile sales, but also for multi-million crackers business. Hyderabad is one of the major markets for Diwali crackers in the country with an estimated sale of around Rs 3,000 crore in just one month during the festival.