India initially announced a lockdown for 21 days from 25th March to 14th April to minimize the outbreak of coronavirus in the country. But on the last day of the lockdown, the Prime Minister announced the extension till May 3. However, several businesses were given relaxation to start operating after April 20 abiding safety rules. Amid this, smartphone makers like Xiaomi, Realme, and Vivo have started talks with their e-commerce partners to begin the sales in the country.
This is the second time Xiaomi and Realme have come forward to begin sales during the lockdown. Late last month they urged the government to classify smartphones as ‘essential commodity’. Because the government has only allowed e-commerce and retailers to sell only essential goods like groceries, health products, and such.
However, now as the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has announced an unclear relaxation of trades after April 20, Xiaomi, Realme, and Vivo have started discussions to begin sales of smartphones with their strategic online partners.
Realme’s CEO Madhav Sheth has already confirmed his brand will start selling smartphones and audio accessories from April 20 through Flipkart and Realme online store. Whereas, Xiaomi and Vivo are on the verge of finalizing their decision.
In addition to companies, executives from research firms like IDC and Counterpoint Research also agree with the idea of start selling smartphones online as they are essential and the companies could start making up the losses they incurred over the past few weeks. This could further help in increasing the demand from late May and June to the following quarters.
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