Xiaomi To Launch New Premium Smartphones in India, Maps Expansion Plans
Xiaomi is pushing for more profits and more revenue from India; and their new ecosystem would be the first step.
Previously Xiaomi committed to invest heavily in its India operations to build an ecosystem for the company in the country owing to its massive success in the country. India is now the largest market for Xiaomi outside China.
As per a report, Xiaomi will spend a part of the capital it recently raised from its IPO in India.
The Chinese technology major is working on building an ecosystem of India-specific internet services. Also, the company is working on the expansion of Xiaomi premium smartphones segment, where it has repeatedly failed in India.
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Xiaomi Already Profitable in India
The company is already profitable in the country and hence needs lesser external support. Xiaomi has performed impressively in the last couple of years, and continues to dominate the market in budget and mid-range categories.
The company will spend 30 percent of the $4.5 billion raised in the recent IPO in India.
Historically Xiaomi is known to build an infrastructure for smartphones rather than only selling smartphones. Similarly, in India, the company is planning to build an ecosystem for its smartphones with India-specific IoT features and internet services.
Xiaomi Services Available in India
The company launched a credit service in India recently called MiCredit. The Xiaomi credit service offer loans up to Rs 1 lakh. The company is also working on a number of internet services in the country like apps, AI and other features. Xiaomi has India-made apps available like Mi Music and file-sharing app Mi Drop.
Also, there are apps like MiBrowser and MiStore shopping apps. The company has already invested in 10 Indian startups till now. All the investments align with its strategy of building an infrastructure of internet services in the country.
The highlight of all was the social networking app ShareChat. It already has partnerships in firms like digital content platform Hungama, lending firm Krazybee and more.
Xiaomi is trying to follow an Apple model, where it wants to create a host of services for its hardware users, which will help the company to stay ahead of its competition.
Xiaomi Premium Smartphones
Xiaomi has failed to put up a mark in the Indian premium smartphone segment repeatedly. After conquering the budget categories, the company is now planning to make a conscious expansion in the premium smartphone segment in India.
It’s only premium smartphones in India were Mi MIX and Mi MIX 2, and both failed to generate any significant business.
The company is now focusing on the higher-end market, especially in the sub-30,000 zone and is planning to launch Xiaomi premium smartphones in the country. Xiaomi will be launching Mi A2 on August 8 in India, a upper mid-range Android One device, which is expected to be price under Rs 20,000.
Xiaomi Premium Smartphones:Â Offline Expansion & Samsung Challenge
Xiaomi was recently beaten by Samsung, and the South Korean company took its top spot back. In spite of better priced handsets and strong online sales, Samsung was able to beat Xiaomi due to its strong offline presence in the country backed by its massive popularity in sub-urban markets.
The Chinese company is trying to expand in the offline market, and has a long way to go till it catches up with Samsung.
In the next couple of quarters, we may see a new range of Xiaomi premium smartphones launching in the country.
The company is slowly expanding, and the offline channels had doubled for Xiaomi since last year. Xiaomi is now looking to bring in offline shipments to over 50 percent of its overall sales by the end of 2019 to take on Samsung in India with an omni-channel presence.
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