Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, once hailed as China’s answer to Apple Inc’s iPhone, said it’s aiming to ship more than 100 million phones in 2018, in a sign that it’s found a way out of its sales slump in its home market and abroad.
The Beijing-based company shipped 23.16 million smartphones in the second quarter, a 70 per cent jump from the previous quarter and a record since the company began making phones seven years ago, successfully regaining its traction, said chief executive officer Lei Jun.
“At the beginning of the year, I set a small target to have more than 100 billion yuan (US$14.7 billion) in sales this year,” Lei said in a memo to employees. “Now we can see that we have a very good chance to reach the target. So we are adding a new target for shipping more than 100 million units of phones next year.”
Lately, the strategy had been squeezed by competitors from two sides in China. On the low end, local brands Oppo and Vivo used brick-and-mortar stores to lure customers in smaller cities, while the high-end models by Huawei Technologies have attracted status-conscious customers away from Xiaomi.
Under siege, Xiaomi’s 2016 shipments slumped 23 per cent and its share of the market was just 8.9 per cent, lagging behind its three main rivals, according to IDC.