Xiaomi, which has been dominating the Indian smartphone market since the past few quarters, has received a fresh investment to further ramp up its operations in one of the world’s biggest smartphone market.
As per the company’s filing with the Registrar of Companies, Xiaomi has invested money into Xiaomi Technology India in two tranches — Rs. 1,500 crore (15 billion INR) on 17th January and Rs. 2,000 crore (20 billion INR) on 1st March.
Reports indicate that the company would utilize the newly infused funds to enter the white goods sector — such as water purifiers, washing machines, laptops and refrigerators. It will also spend money on expanding its company-owned Mi Home retail stores to sustain the leadership in the Indian smartphone market.
The development of this new funding in Xiaomi’s Indian business comes at a time when Samsung is revamping its strategy for the budget smartphones in the Indian market with the all-new Galaxy M-series and Galaxy A-series smartphones.
Xiaomi has not been spending heavily in the Indian business because it heavily relies on an asset-light model. Also, the company’s majority of sales are through online channels via Flipkart and Amazon. However, the company is now putting in efforts to establish its presence in the offline channels as well.
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According to a report from the Hong Kong-based market tracker Counterpoint Research, Xiaomi had a 28 percent share of the Indian smartphone market in 2018, compared to 19 percent in 2017. Samsung, Vivo, and Oppo were almost stagnant in both the years with market shares of 24 percent, 10 percent, and 8 percent, respectively in 2018. However, in terms of revenue, Samsung is still leading the market.
