Xiaomi Sees 40 Per Cent Growth In Offline Sales During Festive Season

Handset maker Xiaomi on Wednesday said it has seen 30-40 per cent increase during festive sales from its offline channel this year, across product categories. “We have expanded our offline retail presence significantly compared to where we were in festive season last year. In the first phase of the festive season, we have seen strong growth in both offline and online channels. Our offline sales grew 30-40 per cent over the last year (festive season),” Xiaomi India Head of Categories and Online Sales Raghu Reddy told PTI.

The company is confident of the growth momentum continuing as Diwali approaches, he added. Earlier this month, Xiaomi said it recorded sale of over 5.3 million devices during the festive sale (first phase), including more than 3.8 million smartphones. The company, which entered India in 2014 and sold smartphones exclusively online, ventured into offline retail in 2017.

It now operates its own chain of Mi Homes (nearly 80), apart from Mi Preferred Partners (over 5,000) and more than 2,000 Mi Stores (franchise model). According to research firm IDC, Xiaomi led the smartphone market in India with 28.3 per cent share during April-June 2019, followed by players like Samsung, vivo, Oppo and Realme. The quarter had seen shipment of 36.9 million smartphones.

The company launched its latest Redmi Note 8 and Note 8 Pro smartphones, Mi Air Purifier 2C on Wednesday. It also unveiled its MIUI 11 (user interface). “Redmi Note series has been a true disruptor since Redmi Note launch in 2014. Each Redmi Note has redefined high value product by pushing the boundaries of technology and challenging the status quo,” Reddy said.

“We are extremely excited to launch our 64MP Quad camera beast...Redmi Note 8 Pro sets a benchmark for gaming and imaging with the world’s first 64MP camera sensor and Helio G90T chipset,” he said. The Redmi Note 8 Pro features 6.53-inch display, 64MP quad-rear camera setup, 20MP front camera and 4500mAh battery. It will come in three variants -- 6GB/64GB, 6GB/128GB and 8GB/128GB—priced Rs 14,999 onwards.

The Redmi Note 8 has a 6.3-inch display, 48MP quad-rear camera setup, 13MP front camera and 4000mAh battery. It will have two variants, 4GB/64GB and 6GB/128GB, priced Rs 9,999 onwards. Both the devices will be available from October 21.

Redmi 8 sports a 6.22-inch HD+ Dot Notch display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The smartphone supports dual-SIM (Nano) technology and runs Android 9 Pie with MIUI 10. Under the hood, there is an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 SoC, paired with 3GB or 4GB of RAM.

On the imaging front, Redmi 8 comes equipped with dual rear camera setup that houses a 12-megapixel Sony IMX363 primary sensor with an f/1.8 lens and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies, there is an 8-megapixel camera sensor at the front.The dual rear camera setup is preloaded AI Portrait and AI Scene Detection features. The phone is also touted to recognise 33 scene categories, including six India-specific categories. Also, there is an artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, including Face Unlock. Further, the phone has a fingerprint sensor at the back.

Redmi 8 has 64GB of onboard storage which is expandable via microSD card (up to 512GB) with a dedicated slot. Connectivity options on the phone include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, GPS/ A-GPS, infrared, wireless FM radio, 3.5mm headphone jack, and a USB Type-C port.

(With inputs from PTI)