Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone major, is now turning a venture capitalist in India with the company declaring its objective to help 100 startups in India and the amount it has allocated for this is Rs 60-70 billion.
The investments may be done over the next five years. It is understood that the company is trying to help itself through these investments since most of the recipients of these funding will be vendors of hardware and software for its core smartphone business. Xiaomi has claimed that it has so far invested in around 10 startups in India.
At the same time, Xiaomi has other plans for India as well. One of them is the expansion into offline retailing by setting up stores across the country, which it has been doing. And these outlets will stock and sell a range of products other than smartphones. Many of these products may be sold in India for the first time, though available already in China. The products could include, electric cycles, self- balancing scooters, electric folding bikes, smart shoes, smart cooker, laptops and water purifiers and many more.
Wherever required, these products will undergo customization before being launched in Indian markets. The company may test market them to obtain customer feedback for this purpose.
The ultimate objective behind this move could be to link these home-use products, through appropriate technology to the smartphone ecosystem and offer them as ‘smart’ or ‘connected’ devices capable of being controlled through the mobile phone.
After having established itself in the Indian smartphone market challenging the leader Samsung. Xiaomi has set its eyes on other products. It is already selling its televisions in the country, the only market, outside of China it has attempted to enter, in this segment.
Xiaomi is also moving towards manufacturing bulk of its products in India provide the economies of scale permit it and already, it has developed Chandigarh as a huge base in the Northern part of the country.