Lu Weibing, Senior VP Xiaomi Group China and GM of Redmi, said in an interview yesterday that Xiaomi plans to surpass all other smartphone brands including Apple to become world number 1.

He added saying that the company will be targeting China’s offline mobile phone market first as 70% of smartphone sales are still conducted offline in the country. Xiaomi plans to reach 30,000 retail stores in China in the next 3 years as well, and only recently inaugurated its 10,000th store. Retail is something Xiaomi still lags behind in and is beaten at by BBK Electronics subsidiaries OPPO and vivo in China. The same holds true globally as well, hence the push for offline stores.

The Xiaomi VP further said that only when the goal is hard to reach can there be “value and significance of the challenge.” He emphasized that the competition, through offline stores, manages to sell a product that Xiaomi already offers at much higher prices. This is because offline stores hold the power of persuation, which is something that lacks in online mediums.

The goal sure is quite hard to reach. Xiaomi seems to have currently locked horns with Apple in terms of smartphone shipments. In Q3 2021, Apple ranked second with 48 million shipments while Xiaomi followed closely behind with 44.4 million shipments (via Counterpoint Research). The company did briefly overtake Apple in Q3 2020 but is back to the number two spot once again.

The real challenge seems to be Samsung though, maintaining a sizeable lead over the rest with a shipment of 69 million units. The company may have seen a decline in terms of sales across the globe, but also sells in markets like the US – a country where Xiaomi still has zero presence.

Xiaomi’s 2024 plans for domination are complemented by goals to mass-manufacture its own electric cars in the same year. A dedicated EV company was set up only last month to help achieve the goal.

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