China’s Xiaomi launches a Mi Store on Wheels to reach consumers in rural India
- The initiative comes after India’s smartphone sales plunged 50 per cent in the second quarter due to supply chain disruptions from Covid-19
- Xiaomi said its smartphone sales in India have recovered to about 72 per cent of their pre-pandemic levels
Xiaomi Corp, the world’s fourth largest smartphone vendor, has launched a mobile retail store to expand its distribution network to consumers in rural India.
Manu Kumar Jain, a Xiaomi global vice-president and managing director at Xiaomi India, said on his Twitter account on Monday that the new van-based Mi store will connect “villages through a moving store.”
The project, called a “Mi Store on wheels”, was completed in just 40 days, he added.
The initiative comes after India’s smartphone sales plunged 50 per cent year on year in the June quarter due to severe supply chain disruptions following government lockdown measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the world’s second most populous country.
The mobile store will offer an alternative for people living in India’s remote areas to try out and buy Xiaomi products without travelling to a larger town for an in-store visit.
The Chinese brand, which controls about 30 per cent of the Indian smartphone market, shipped a total of 5.4 million units the second quarter, topping rivals such as Samsung and Oppo to maintain its No 1 spot in India.