Chinese phone maker Xiaomi said that the smartphone industry expects demand to rebound quickly post the coronavirus-induced lockdown, with the third and fourth quarters of calendar year 2020 expected to post sales levels. The second quarter of the calendar year will post a major decline due to the lockdown, said top executives at Xiaomi India on Monday.

Xiaomi’s manufacturing plants will resume production soon, after procuring approvals from the local governments, and smartphone manufacturer Foxconn has received approval to reopen its plant in Andhra Pradesh, said Manu Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi and Managing Director, Xiaomi India, addressing a press briefing on Monday. The factories would be up and running in a slow, precautious manner, he added. He identified manpower as a major challenge to a full ramp up.

The factories are expected to reach regular capacity by June this year, said Muralikrishnan B., chief operating officer, Xiaomi India

Currently, more than 15 per cent of Xiaomi partner stores have become operational, while around 60 per cent of its offline stores, which are in the green and orange zones, are expected to be operational soon.

The company’s website, Mi.com, has already started taking orders and shipping to the green and orange zones in the countries. Amazon and Flipkart have also similarly started taking orders for phones in the green and orange zones.

The company is also starting an offline to online (O2O) solution called Mi Commerce, which is a product discovery solution, which will enable the customers to know the inventory of the nearest Mi store, place the order accordingly and get the product delivered at their homes, said Muralikrishnan. This is currently being piloted in Kerala, and is expected to be rolled out in the green and orange zones soon. This is being rolled out with an objective to ensure business continuity, re-engineer processes for ease of purchase, as well as create a future proof business model, he said. Mi Commerce is the first step towards the omni-channel solution the company has been planning, he added.

Apart from this, Xiaomi is also working on a solution to extend working capital loans for its offline partners, said Jain. All frontline medical and police personnel will also get free services and discount on spare parts, he said. The company will also be paying heed to maintaining the highest possible hygienic conditions at its stores, he added.

Xiaomi will also be not resorting to laying off its over 50,000 employees and extended partners, said Jain.