Chinese tech company Xiaomi has announced that it earned revenues of $1 billion in India last year. The company entered the Indian smartphone market back in 2014, paving the way for several other Chinese vendors to make their forays into one of the fastest growing large smartphone markets in the world. According to an announcement earlier today by the head of Xiaomi India, Mr. Manu Raju, the company managed to double its sales last year, thanks partly to its expansion into the offline market. The company apparently is the fourth largest smartphone brand in the country right now, shipping as many as 2.5 million devices during the final quarter of last year, thereby registering a whopping 150% growth over the same period in 2015.
Mr. Jain also gave out some further statistics about Xiaomi’s success story in the country. According to him, the company has managed to sell 2.3 million units of its super-popular Redmi Note 3 phablet during the second half of 2016, making it the most-shipped online-exclusive smartphone in the country. The device was earlier reported to have sold in large numbers during Amazon’s ‘Great Indian Sale’ late last year, while Flipkart’s ‘Big Billion Day’ sale saw the entry-level Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime do brisk business. The two devices (and their variants) are immensely popular among the country’s young smartphone users mostly because they represent great value for money with very decent hardware and build quality at very affordable price-points. The company is expected to launch the rumored Redmi Note 4X in India later this month, having been unable to launch the Redmi Note 4 because of ongoing patent-related disputes with Swedish telecom firm, Ericsson.
Xiaomi’s success in India is in sharp contrast to the struggles Huawei has had to endure in the country over the past few years. Having clocked sales of over $2 billion in 2011, the company is believed to have sold devices worth just half as much last year, even though it managed to displace Xiaomi as the top smartphone vendor in their home country last year. Although its stellar showing in India is something that Xiaomi will be drawing comfort from, it is important to remember that the company missed its 2016 shipment target by 12%. As a result, the company has slipped down to the number four spot on the smartphone vendors list in its homeland, with OPPO and Vivo both having overtaken it over the past few months. Xiaomi will now be hoping that its next-generation devices like the upcoming Mi 6 will help it regain its former glory in the all-important Chinese market.