Xiaomi targets sales of 7 million units of Redmi Note 4 this year

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, which doubled its smartphone sales in India last year to surpass USD1 billion, or about Rs. 6,700 crore, in revenues, targets to become the country's largest smartphone firm within five years and, accordingly, plans to ramp up its manufacturing capacities.

Manu Jain, Head, Xiaomi India, said, "I would want Xiaomi to become number one in overall smartphone sales volume perspective in India in 3-5 years."

Xiaomi currently has a manufacturing plant along with Foxconn at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh.

Jain said, "We are looking to open one or two new factories with similar capacities to double or triple our capacities either at Sri City itself or elsewhere in the country with Foxconn."

Its Redmi Note 3 has become the best-selling phone online in the country with 3.6 million units sold in just 10 months. In all, Xiaomi launched four phones in Mi and Redmi series in the country last year.

Jain said the firm hopes that sales volume of Redmi Note 4 this year will be double that of Redmi Note 3 last year, which would mean sales of at least 7 million units.

He said more than three-fourths of the phones Xiaomi sold here last year were made in India. Smartphone sales in the country have tripled in last three years to 120 million last year, out of total mobile phone sales of 270 million, Jain said. It is expected to double to over 240 million by 2020.

Jain said, "We have already invested hundreds of millions dollars in India over last few years and India will remain our first priority outside Mainland China. We will continue to invest hundreds of millions of dollars on manufacturing, warehouses, logistics, call centres and service centres in India. Within two and a half years of its India foray, Xiaomi has become the leader in the online smartphone market in the country with 30 percent market share in the quarter ended December."

Even while continuing its focus on online first sales strategy, the Chinese firm will nearly triple its offline sales this year to around 30 percent from some 10 percent now.

The company's application for single brand retail license was approved by the DIPP and the company is currently waiting for clearances from few others including the finance ministry, and is hoping to get its license sometime this year.