Xiaomi to increase offline presence to 50% in India

China technology company Xiaomi is the number one smartphone brand in India in terms of sale on e-commerce portal thanks to the sale of Redmi Note 3, Redmi Note 4, Redmi 3 & 4 line up. Additionally, out of every three phone sold online, one phone has been from the Xiaomi brand in the last two quarters. And Now the company is looking to increase its offline presence in the country.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun in an interview with Economic Times told that the company wants 50 percent of its total sales from the offline market in India, but challenges lie ahead.

He said that charting out Xiaomi's growth in China's offline market was a bigger challenge, as the company has always focused on the online market, which has its limitations. The same challenges may also bee seen in India in the years to come, said Jun. 

Jun further says that due to the supply-demand mismatch, Xiaomi is ramping up manufacturing in India, as well as opened its second plant in the country. The company has also expanded its production capacity in India, to make one phone per second, and now locally manufactures 95 percent of the phones it sells in India. It is also planning to setup a third manufacturing plant to meet the demand, as it is still falling short in supply with the second plant. The company is also looking forward at exporting its products from India.

Xiaomi's other focus is on expanding its product portfolio and service centers in the country. The company plans to double the number of service centers from 250 to 500 by the middle of this year, and is also keen to bring more products to the country.

Jun also says that, Xiaomi's stupendous growth in the country, will form the base of international expansion. The company wants to replicate India's success in Indonesia, Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam, before foraying into U.S's smartphone market. Xiaomi aims to achieve $15 billion in overall revenue globally by the year end. 

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