Xiaomi Sales Up Sevenfold During Third Year in India Market
Xiaomi‘s sales are up sevenfold in India since the company’s India branch became profitable in the fiscal year that ended in March 2017. Indian consumers appear to prefer the high quality and low price of Chinese smartphones.
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The company told the Indian Financial Times it expects its results to be better during this fiscal year. In 2017, Xiaomi Indian sales rose by 696 percent to 8.37 billion rupees (8.58 billion yuan) and its net profit reached 163.9 million rupees (170 million yuan). Revenue a year ago was 104.62 million Indian rupees, a net loss of 46.9 million rupees.
The financial results of the Indian market are expected to help the Xiaomi’s IPO, which may be seeking a $50 billion valuation.
India is Xiaomi‘s second-largest market after China. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), a market intelligence firm, Xiaomi‘s shipments exceeded those of Samsung in India between July and September, making it the top-selling handset maker in India.
“Revenue is achieved through sales of mobile phones, accessories, spare parts and services,” Xiaomi wrote in its regulatory file.
Xiaomi and Oppo have more than US $2 billion revenue in India. Oppo’s revenue also grew by 754 percent last year to 79.743 million rupees.
Both Xiaomi and Oppo outpaced India’s largest mobile phone makers, Micromax and Intex, and Sony’s Indian subsidiary. Sony is Japan’s biggest mobile phone maker. Xiaomi and Oppo’s success is an indicator of Chinese companies’ rapid growth in electronics.
The Xiaomi Indian branch has not commented. The company said in an interview that it had $1 billion in revenue in the past year and it expects that to more than double this year.
As of September, Chinese companies controlled more than half of India’s smartphone market, up from just 33 percent a year earlier, according to Counterpoint Research. The share of Indian manufacturers has shrunk from 33 percent to 14 percent.
