Nokia has said that its manufacturing facility at Sriperumbudur, Chennai has crossed production of 500 million handsets. This was achieved in five years of its operations.
To mark this achievement, Nokia has said that the 500th million phone ? a Nokia C3-00 ? will be specially autographed by Nokia?s brand ambassador actor Shahrukh Khan, and will be available for auction to consumers through the online site nokia500million.com.
Nokia will match the amount raised through the auction, and the total proceeds will be donated by Nokia to a charity. The auction will begin today and will end on May 15, 2011.
The company?s Chennai manufacturing facility was established in January, 2006. The company has since then grown from a 550-member workforce to a strong 8,000 plus member workforce, among which 70 percent are women.
Nokia?s Chennai plant crossed the 1 million handsets production mark in March, 2006. Initially aimed to serve the needs of the rapidly growing Indian market, approximately 50 percent of the current production today is consumed domestically and the rest is exported to 100 countries including the Middle East and Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, North America and Europe.
Nokia operates 10 manufacturing facilities in nine countries around the world. Nokia recently announced its eleventh manufacturing site in Vietnam as part of its global manufacturing network.
