Chinese handset manufacturer Xiaomi told that it remains to stay in the business and network of Mi stores, its exclusive outlets in India which still contribute a 15 per cent to its business in the country. The Mi store network in our country which sells all Xiaomi products except the shoes could generate employment for more than 6,000 people across our country.
Xiaomi India Managing Director Manu Jain told in his statement that while the total demand for smartphones, laptops and smart TVs is high as people remain to work and study from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, even products like trimmers are seeing a large demand hike. When asked about the effect of anti-china sentiment on the business, he told that company has seen stronger demand both offline and online and there is no adverse impact.
The Chinese brand Xiaomi entered India in 2014 and traded smartphones exclusively online, had volunteered into offline retail in 2017. Apart from Mi Stores, Xiaomi also functions its own chain of additional 75 Mi Homes, 8,000 Mi Preferred Partners and over 45-plus Mi Studios over franchise model. Xiaomi India, MD, Manu Jain told PTI that Mi Stores are existing even in the small cities and present in all probable locations, they have stores in Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar too. A humongous number of them have been started by people who have no experience in retail or experience in the smartphone sector, these are people who want to become entrepreneurs and business owners.
He further added that the organisation is establishing the 3,000th Mi Store in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh and specified that nearly all of the Mi retail stores are money-making and sustainable. Recent days, the offline business contributes to nearly half of their business in our country and 30 per cent of that is coming from Mi Stores. Mi Stores are the fastest rising channel for them right now whereas the number of Mi Stores has increased from 500 to 3,000, the percentage contribution to the business has raised from 5 per cent to about 15 per cent, he stated.
He also mentioned an example that factories get closed for sanitation and fumigation for a few days due to COVID cases are detected which impacts manufacturing. While Xiaomi does not reveal country-specific income numbers, a regulatory filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) exhibited that the company’s total revenue in FY 2018-19 increase by 54 per cent to Rs 35,426.92 crore from Rs 23,061.11 crore in FY18.
