Xiaomi, the Beijing based electronics company is set to introduce an “very cost effective high-performance smartphone” targeting the Indian feature phone users. The development was shared by Lei Jun, founder and president of Xiaomi in the third quarter earnings call on November 24, 2020. The company on November 24, 2020, announced its third quarter earnings result for the period ended September 30, 2020, with Xiaomi registering an 34.5% Year-Over-Year (YoY) increase in its revenues. The Beijing based company also recorded an 18.9% YoY increase in its net profit.
Xiaomi Has Over 25% Market Share in India
In its third quarter results, Xiaomi citing a Canalys report said that it has captured 26.1% market share by smartphone shipments in India.
“Indian market, we are number one for I think 13 quarters already,” Jun said in the third quarter earnings call.
The president of Xiaomi also highlighted that the Indian smartphone market is worth 130 million to 150 million every year. However, Jun said that the “growth areas” in Indian market is the feature phone segment.
“You can also see another 150 million feature phones,” Jun said in the third quarter earnings call. “So that means, we have a lot of work to do, right? We should continue to innovate to make a very cost effective high-performance smartphones to serve the Indian consumers.”
Jun also said that the company is “very, very optimistic” about its future growth in the next five year period.
“We should go build the channels down to the countryside, the villages to serve the people there so that they can be equipped with a mobile internet so that we hope we can change their lives and help them to have a better life with the access to the internet,” Jun said in the third quarter earnings call.
Indian Market Needs An Balanced Approach
The president of Xiaomi also highlighted that Xiaomi has over 700 retail stores across its overseas markets but that the Indian market has a “very strong online channels and offline channels.” Jun said that the online channels register “close to 50%” of its overall sales and that one needs to “have a more balanced approach, if you want to be successful in India.”
The company highlighted that the smartphone shipments touched 46.6 million units in its third quarter for the period ended September 30, 2020, translating to an 45.3% YoY increase. Jun also highlighted that the company has below 20% market share in multiple countries across Europe which are now a “huge growth areas” for Xiaomi. Further, the president of Xiaomi highlighted that the company sees a “very big potential” to grow in the Latin American market.
