Xiaomi soon will start selling its devices in India later this year
through its own online store as it looks to beef up its presence in one of the
world's fastest growing smartphone market. Xiaomi, which at present sells its
smartphone in India through one of the major e-commerce website Flipkart, will
bring in its official website 'Mi.com' to India in the latter part of the year.
"We are
presently looking for ware housing and partners in India, as well as deciding
on a mode of payment mechanism like cash on delivery. It may take about 3-9
months", Xiaomi Indian market Head Manu Jain told PTI. He added that the
Beijing based firm will carry on its alliance with Flipkart. Currently, the
company sells its smartphone through its website in most countries of operations
(except India and Indonesia). Xiaomi on Wednesday launched its new smartphone - Mi 4 -
in India for Rs. 19,999, as it seeks to extend its selling in India. 'India is one of our significant market and we have always paid much attention in marketing in India. We
have big tactics for India in this year. We are in practice of signing the
lease on a service in Bangalore, which will be our R&D unit. This will be the
first one outside China', quoted by Manu Jain
India is one of
the biggest markets for Xiaomi outside of China. The company has so far
launched 4 devices in India, Xiaomi Redmi-1S, Xiaomi Mi-3 and Xiaomi Redmi Note and now Xiaomi MI 4.
The overall sales have crossed a million units since the first launch in July
2014. Xiaomi is often referred to as the 'Apple of China' and featured in
Boston Consulting Group's top 50 most innovative companies in the world list
last year.
It ranks at the 3rd spot with 5.3% share of the global shipment in
the July to September 2014 quarter, after Samsung (23.8%) and Apple (12%). Samsung was the market leader
in the smartphone market with 24% share, followed by Micromax (20%), Lava, Karbonn (8%
each) and Motorola (5%) in the third quarter of 2014.