Focus this year is to build a premium range across categories: Xiaomi India

In India, the Chinese smartphone brand will focus on premium offerings in TVs, Laptops, and smart home appliances over the next year, says Raghu Reddy, chief business officer

Xiaomi is fast assuming a pole position in the Internet of Things (IoT) devices market. It’s competitively priced smart TVs and fitness trackers are top selling in their respective categories. Now, the company is looking to introduce high-end models in major categories, according to a top executive, as Xiaomi looks to become a leading IoT, lifestyle and smart-home player in India.

“The focus this year is to build out a premium range cutting across categories,” said Raghu Reddy, chief business officer at Xiaomi India. “There will be launches in laptops, TVs, and wearables (categories).” He added that all non-smartphones categories put together now account for about 15 percent of Xiaomi's total revenue from India.

Like with its smartphones, Xiaomi scaled to the top by selling smart devices at highly competitive prices. Mi Bands 3, 4 and 5 – priced Rs 2,500 - have enjoyed top market-share, making it harder for other fitness wearables – like the OnePlus Band which launched last year – to drum up demand.

On the smart TVs side, its 32-inch, 43-inch and 50-inch offerings are priced average Rs 10,000 lower than competition and have consequently sold well. Since entering the category in February 2018, Xiaomi has shipped 60 lakh smart TV units, according to Reddy.

“Xiaomi/Mi has been the number 1 smart TV brand for 13 quarters consequently. While the 32-inch is the bread-and-butter model, the focus area going forward will be 4K,” said Reddy. Xiaomi introduced a 75-inch 4K QLED Smart TV at Rs 1,19,999 in April 2021 – and it continues to be its most premium offering to date.

The portfolio also includes 55-inch and 65-inch 4K TVs priced in the range Rs 55,000 – Rs 60,000. Last week, Xiaomi announced a 77-inch OLED TV as well as Mi TV 6 OLED series in China, which are likely to be introduced in India this month.

Keeping with the premium strategy, Xiaomi is likely to double down on at least two gadget categories: Laptops and smart watches. The firm entered the laptops category last year with Mi Horizon Notebooks priced at Rs 54,999 (i5 version) and Rs 59,999 (i7 version) -- refreshed models will be launched at Xiaomi's Smarter Living event on 26 August.

Xiaomi is also planning an upgrade to its smart-watches. It currently has Mi Watch Revolve priced at Rs 9,999, which has gone through at least one refresh. “Both Laptops and smart-watches will see a lot of action on the premium side going forward,” Reddy said.

Other ranges that may see upgrades in the upcoming event are routers, security cameras, and IoT vacuum cleaners.

Of late, the push for premium can also be seen on the smartphone side. It’s recently launched premium models – Mi 11X (Rs 30,000) and Poco X3 (Rs 20,000) – are giving OnePlus and Samsung a run for their money. According to Counterpoint, while Xiaomi remains the number one player in the overall smartphone market with 28 percent market share as of Q2 2021, OnePlus leads the premium segment (Rs 30,000 and above) with nearly 34 percent share in the said category.