Xiaomi sees short-term sales hit from coronavirus, but expects smartphone demand to pick up

Xiaomi Corp, the world’s fourth largest smartphone vendor, warned of a short-term decline in sales during the first quarter because of disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but remained “cautiously optimistic” as the global health crisis subsides.

“While the entire world is still under the dark shadows of Covid-19, we have maintained our keen focus on efficiency to tide over this economic ‘black swan’ with everyone,” said Lei Jun, founder and chief executive of Xiaomi, in a statement on Tuesday.

The Hong Kong-listed company, which reported better-than-expected earnings in the December quarter and the whole of last year, indicated that 80 to 90 per cent of its production capacity in China has returned, after the government lifted its sweeping travel restrictions and lockdown of communities to curb the spread of the virus, according to senior executives in a conference call with analysts on Tuesday after the market closed.

“Production was affected, but the pace of recovery has exceeded expectations,” said Xiaomi president Wang Xiang. Without elaborating, Wang said the pandemic’s impact on the company has been less compared with the effect on its rivals in major smartphone markets such as India, Europe and the US.