Xiaomi plans to launch 6 new smartphones in India
Xiaomi plans to launch six more smartphones in India and expand its non-smartphones portfolio in the country says Manu Kumar Jain, Xiaomi Global VP, and India Head. In an Interview to LiveMint, Jain discussed about the company's plan for 2018 and how it looks to expand in offline space, grow a non-smartphone portfolio and plans to increase the pace of investments. Here are the details.
Xiaomi to release more products under its non-smartphone portfolio
Xiaomi has already "shaken up" the Indian consumer market by its budget friendly TVs and made some progress with products such as its power banks, fitness bands, smart air purifiers. Interestingly, Xiaomi will build upon its ecosystem by releasing products like smart scooters or cycles and smart wearables like shoes and others in India. It intends to replicate its success model outside of China.
Increase the pace of investments in India
In 2018, Xiaomi plans to acquire software/Internet start-ups. This aligns with Xiaomi founder Lei Jun's earlier statement wherein he mentioned that they would invest $1 billion in Indian start-ups, with an aim to build an ecosystem of apps around their brand. Xiaomi's sister company, Shunwie Capital has so far invested in 10 Indian start-ups, with ShareChat and KrazyBee being its most recent investments.
Xiaomi is willing to invest more in India
"We really believe that India will become hugely digital in the next five years and we want to help promote that. We would want to increase the pace of investments to support these Indian companies", said Manu Jain.
Xiaomi plans to open 100 more exclusive stores across India
Without doubt, Xiaomi's online flash sales strategy has been instrumental in their success allowing them to become India's top smartphone vendor with 25% market share. And now, the company looks to open up 100 exclusive stores across India. This offline expansion will help Xiaomi to introduce new products and launch its non-smartphone portfolio. Currently, Xiaomi has only 26 exclusive stores across India.
