Kolkata: Disengagement at the border means renewed engagement in the mainland. With Indo-China LAC tensions down a few notches, Chinese smartphone and electronics brands such as Xioami, Vivo, Haier, Oppo and OnePlus are reviving their marketing and advertising spends in India.

Senior company executives, speaking off record, said they will also be firming up product launch strategies, festive season planning and investment plans, all of which were put on hold for almost a month, after Chinese troops attacked Indian soldiers in Galwan. Vivo, Realme, Xiaomi and One-Plus are again focusing on expanding local production and highlighting “make in India” in their advertising campaigns and product packaging, industry executives said.

Vivo, Xiaomi, Oppo, Realme and OnePlus have also started launching new models and even entering new categories. Vivo’s advertising for its new models will come back to newspapers, television and billboards. Haier has lined up fresh marketing plans starting with Onam next month.

Vivo, Xiaomi, Oppo, Realme and OnePlus did not respond to queries sent on Friday.

As per industry estimates, Chinese electronics and smartphone companies together spends over Rs 2,500 crore annually on promotional activities, including advertising, social media and retail activations. Analysts said now that the Chinese firms must have lost some market share in April-June quarter to rival Samsung, they want to step up their efforts to not cede more ground.

“Chinese brands were waiting for supplies to normalise and sentiments to improve-…which have happened now,” said IDC India research director Navkendar Singh. “Next five months are crucial…that’s why they are stepping up their marketing spend…and it’s a test for these brands…whether anti-China sentiments really hurt them or not,” he said.

As of January-March quarter, Chinese smartphone brands together controlled 80% share of the Indian market, around 40% for smart television and 6-7% for home appliances, as per market trackers and industry estimates.