Xiaomi, which is already the largest player in the mobile phones business in India along with its Redmi and Mi sub-brands, now wants to enter the whitegoods sector. The plan is to make the company an end-to-end consumer electronics firm, reports Economic Times. Some of the products Xiaomi is planning to launch in the country include air-conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, laptops and small appliances like vacuum cleaners and water purifiers.
Interestingly the plan is to introduce all these as smart appliances which will fall under the Internet of Things or IoT category. That could mean the company would be targeting the upper-segment of the consumers since you would expect only a small number of Indian consumers attuned to using appliances connected through their computers or smartphones.
The Chinese major has already made foray in the sector by launching a few of its smart television models and it may further expand the range and it may really find traction in this product since there is the demand and the ever-widening internet usage has opened up the avenue for smart TVs.
The appliances may first be offered to online buyers and subsequently through offline stores including the retail outlets setup by Xiaomi. The company is said to have set up around 50 stores now and plans to take it to 500. The company says it has already shipped a million units of televisions from its contract manufacturer’s facility in India. The company adopts a pricing policy where it retains just 5% profit for itself and passes on the benefit to the customers thereby quickly gaining market share. It has done this in televisions and may do so with its appliances as well. Xiaomi has reportedly posted a sales turnover of Rs 22,947 crore in its Indian operations, making a quantum leap from Rs 8,334 crore the year before.