Xiaomi aims to ship 700 million devices in India by 2034: Rediff Moneynews

Bengaluru, July 8 (PTI) Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi expects to double sales of its devices in India to 700 million in the next 10 years, a senior company official said on Monday.

Speaking on the occasion of Xiaomi’s 10th anniversary in India, CEO Muralikrishnan B said that in the last 10 years, the company has sold 250 million smartphones and 350 million units in total across all product categories.

“I am very happy to share that in the last 10 years of Xiaomi’s existence in India, we have shipped 25 crore smartphones, 250 million smartphones and 35 crore devices in total across categories. That is between 2014 and 2024. Now, as we talk about 10 years from now, we want to double our shipments to 700 million devices in India,” Muralikrishnan told PTI in an interview.

He added that the company is considering starting production of AI-based IoT devices in India and talks are underway to produce the tablet in the country.

“We have smartphones, we have smart TVs, we have audio products that are being manufactured in India. We are also exploring the possibility of localising various other AI IoT products. We are also committed to expanding and deepening the localisation of skills in India. We have discussed this in the past, simpler products or just battery charging cables are already being sourced in India,” Muralikrishnan said.

Xiaomi has partnered with Dixon Technologies, Foxconn, Optiemus and BYD to manufacture devices in India.

“In terms of component localisation, we will go broader and deeper. In our total bill of materials (BOM), local non-semiconductor materials account for 35 per cent share, which is sourced locally. We expect this to increase to 55 per cent in the next two years,” said Muralikrishnan.

Achieving higher local value addition in electronics manufacturing is one of the biggest challenges in India due to the lack of electronic components.

“In terms of domestic value addition, net value addition stood at 18 per cent in fiscal year (FY) 2023 and with our focus on deepening and broadening the components ecosystem, we expect this number to grow to 22 per cent by FY25,” Muralikrishnan said.

Research analysts have varied in their estimates for Xiaomi’s smartphone market share in India in the March 2024 quarter. Cybermedia Research estimates it slightly behind Samsung at 18.6 percent, Counterpoint Research forecasts 10 percent, while IDC puts it at around 13 percent.

However, all three leading research firms estimate that Xiaomi is among the top four smartphone brands in the country.

Counterpoint estimates that Xiaomi was displaced by Samsung as the top player in the smart TV segment in the March quarter. Samsung’s share is estimated at around 16 percent, LG at 15 percent, and Xiaomi at 12 percent.

Muralikrishnan said the company had indeed gone through a tough time during the COVID-19 pandemic as its market share declined.

“We looked at 2023 as a year of reset, refresh and recharge. We recalibrated our strategy and regained growth momentum in the second half of 2023, when we got back on a growth path. We grew much faster than the market,” he said.