Xiaomi is, next to Huawei, the top dog in China. This company is constantly trading places with Huawei as the largest smartphone OEM in that Asian country. Xiaomi has introduced a number of devices this year, and the company has also started selling devices in Brazil, the first non-Chinese market the company has entered. Xiaomi soon plans to move to Africa as well, and the company’s CEO has also hinted that they might come to the US as well in 2016. Xiaomi actually already sells their products in the US, but only accessories, smartphone are unavailable at the moment.
That being said, Xiaomi’s President of International, Hugo Barra, was actually interviewed quite recently, and he spoke about Xiaomi’s international plans. Mr. Barra was actually hired by Xiaomi back in 2013 when he left Google, and has since then been in charge of Xiaomi’s international affairs. Mr. Barra has said during his interview that Xiaomi is doing really well in India, he said that he actually spent 50% of his time in India over the last 18 months, and that Xiaomi’s affairs are going as planned. Xiaomi has sold three million devices in India from July 2014, to July this year, which are great results for the company. He also added that it’s too early to judge their affairs in Brazil and Indonesia, but Xiaomi is investing a lot in those markets and are building a strong team of employees, it will be interesting to see what happens in 2016.
Hugo Barra actually talked quite a bit about Africa during his interview, Xiaomi seems more than serious about this move. They see Africa as an untapped source of consumers considering the continent is slowly adopting smartphones. He said that about 60% smartphone sales are happening in South Africa, about 50% in Kenya and 25% in Nigeria. Most of Africa still uses cellphones, and Xiaomi definitely sees their opportunity here if they manage to offer solid, affordable devices. Xiaomi will also expand the availability of their smart gadgets in 2016, such as Air Purifiers, and Mi Bands. Mr. Barra has also hinted that the company is closely watching the development of VR tech, and judging by his comments, Xiaomi could start developing their own offering in the near future.