Xiaomi Corporation is a Chinese electronics company headquartered in Beijing. The company is a manufacturer and invests in multiple products like smartphones, laptops, bags, earphones, shoes, fitness bands, etc… Xiaomi entered the Indian market in 2014 July and started local manufacturing just over a year later.
Xiaomi is one of the major examples of the country’s ‘Make In India’ success tale, even though India is trying to catch up with China in terms of total electronics manufacturing. Xiaomi India has introduced an Independence Day initiative called ‘Mi For India’. Teach For India, a non-profit organization has collaborated with the organization to deliver 2500 new smartphones to the children impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. ‘MI For India’ campaign has been launched to celebrate 74th Independence Day as well as the 5th anniversary of Make in India initiative.
Xiaomi is one of the leading smartphone brands in India, which makes it a good fit for this initiative. MI for India is a recent major public move from the company amid India’s anti-China outrage due to the Indian-China border clashes.
Owing to the COVID-induced lockdowns, their plant shutdowns, and supply chaos, the smartphone segment nearly halved in the last quarter. Yet Xiaomi maintained its place of leadership.
The new initiative is also an extension of previous philanthropic efforts by the company. Including its commitment to support during the COVID crisis, the company had also offered a helping hand to the affected people during West Bengal Amphan cyclone.
The Chief Operating Officer, Mi India, Muralikrishnan B, said; When the true effects of the lockout appeared, what stood out was the way education had changed.
For children, learning had become extremely difficult. Now they need a piece of hardware to make things work. Among the vast number of children taught by Teach For India, over 30 percent do not have exposure to smartphones. Many families don’t have a smartphone and it’s limited to the parents, even if they do. Solving it was a serious question.
The company is taking a lot of effort ensuring that the devices are designed to India’s requirements keeping the monsoons and voltage fluctuations in mind. He added that Competitions will come and go, The competitors can do whatever they want. The support from customers will be there if the company continues to focus on the consumer and provide unmatched value.
