Xiaomi to focus more on ₹10,000-15,000 5G smartphones for sustainable, profitable business in India

Mobile handsets maker Xiaomi India on Friday said the company will focus on ₹10,000-15,000 category of 5G smartphones in the next two years, adding that the company’s focus will be much more leaner and instead of many products, the company would focus now on only one flagship model.

“On 5G, today if you look at it above ₹20,000 models are pretty much sold across all brands. Between ₹15,000 and ₹20,000 are largely getting 5G oriented. But, if you look at the bulk of the market lies in ₹10,000-15,000, and there is still a significant chunk of 4G, and that is the segment we are identifying as opportunity for Xiaomi to replay and redo the magic we did with 4G (in 2014),” Muralikrishnan B, President at Xiaomi India, told businessline.

He said that one of the challenges for Xiaomi were that its portfolio got too bloated, launching too many models, were confused and the company accepts that.

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“So, our focus this year will be much more cleaner, leaner portfolio, going back to good old days where Xiaomi used to be – at every price point there was one Hero (good) model. There is at least 25 per cent reduction in the number of products this year, which is quite significant,” he said.

Offline stores

Muralikrishnan also said that this year, the company will also focus on offline stores that contributes 60 per cent of the sales for the overall industry. Xiaomi has 50:50 share from online and offline stores and that is why it will build retail capabilities, expanding the reach and extend its investment in the retail market.

“We recalibrated our focus in 2023...we made a few strategic decisions for 2023 – recalibrate our strategy for sustainability and profitability business. We want to exit this year with being the most loved and trusted smartphone brand, plus Internet of things (IoT) devices. We want to focus on efficiency and secured foundation,” he added.

Tops the table

According to a latest report by Counterpoint, Samsung holds the top position in the Indian smartphone market with 20 per cent share in the first quarter of this year. Xiaomi used to hold the top position earlier. Xiaomi’s market share declined to 12 percent and is in third position now after Vivo which holds the second position with 17 per cent market share in Q1 2023 (January-March).

India’s smartphone shipments declined 19 per cent year-on-year in January-March to reach over 31 million units, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Monitor service. This was the highest ever Q1 decline seen by India’s smartphone market, besides being the third consecutive quarterly decline, it said, adding that 5G smartphones’ contribution to total smartphone shipments reached a record of 43 per cent.

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