Xiaomi exploring new products for Indian market

Xiaomi, in the Indian smartphone market launched its latest device Redmi Note 7 Pro, priced Rs 13,999 onwards.

New Delhi: Chinese tech major Xiaomi on Thursday said it is exploring new products, available in its home market, that can be introduced in India.

"In China, we have 80-100 categories, while in India we have only 10-12 of these. Last year alone, we introduced new categories like televisions, suitcases etc in the Indian market. We are exploring new categories that can be brought to India," Raghu Reddy, Xiaomi India head (Category and online sales) told reporters here.

However, he declined to comment on the products that could be introduced in the Indian market in the near future.

Xiaomi, which competes with players like Samsung, vivo and Oppo in the Indian smartphone market launched its latest device Redmi Note 7 Pro, priced Rs 13,999 onwards.

The device, which has been launched first in India, features Snapdragon 675 chipset, 6.3-inch display, 48MP+5MP dual rear camera, 13MP front camera and 4,000 mAh battery. The 4GB RAM or 64GB internal memory and 6GB RAM or 128GB internal memory variants will go on sale from March 13.

According to Counterpoint- a global industry analysis firm, Xiaomi led the smartphone market in India in 2018 with 28 per cent share, followed by Samsung (24 per cent). The hyper-competitive Indian smartphone market witnessed the fastest growth among major markets, expanding by 10 per cent in 2018 over the previous year to over 145 million units, it added.

The Chinese player had entered the Indian market through online channel, and has been focussed on aggressively expanding its offline presence over the last many months.

Xiaomi claimed that some of its competitors were under-clocking the same chipset that it was using on the Note 7 Pro, which would result in customers not getting optimal performance from their devices.

"We want to make it clear that we will not indulge in any such practice. We are stating that facts as they are. We are committed to quality, great technology at affordable prices," Reddy said.

The Note series has been the most successful products for Xiaomi, which has led the Indian smartphone market for the last few quarters. Reddy said Xiaomi had sold about 12 million units of its Note devices in 2018.

The company has also launched Redmi Note 7 that will retail for Rs 9,999 onwards beginning March 6.

The smartphone features Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset, 6.3-inch display, 12MP+2MP dual rear camera, 13MP front camera and 4,000 mAh battery. It will be available in 3GB/32GB and 4GB/64GB variants.

Besides, Xiaomi has also unveiled Mi LED TV 4A PRO (32) that will sell for Rs 12,999 from March 7 and Mi Sports Bluetooth Earphones Basic (starting Thursday) for Rs 1,499.

(Inputs from PTI)